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Summer Synopsis: Ottawa Senators

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There was a lot of excitement in Ottawa last fall when the Senators took to the ice to open the 2022-23 season. Outside of the Calgary Flames, general manager Pierre Dorion and the Senators were widely regarded as the winner of the offseason. But, winners of the offseason don’t always win in season, and much like the Flames, the Senators struggled to put it together on the ice. The team took a while to find their game and when they finally did form a cohesive unit, they found themselves well outside of the playoff picture. They did climb back into the thick of things that last few months of the season, but for the most part it was a lost season in a long line of the lost seasons. But it was not without its positives. Many individual Senators players took big steps. Tim Stützle took monumental steps to establishing himself as a bonafide superstar, Jake Sanderson showed he was the worthy of the hype, Brady Tkachuk continued to put up good offensive numbers and matured on and off the ice. The only thing missing was a playoff spot, and the Senators looked poised to chase one down this season.

Draft

4-108: D Hoyt Stanley, Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL)
5-140: D Matthew Andonovski, Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
7-204: F Owen Beckner, Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL)
7-207: G Vladimir Nikitin, Barys Nur-Sultan (KAZ)
7-215: G Nicholas Vantassell, Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)

The Senators clearly saw a need to build up the backend as they drafted two defensemen and two goalies in the 2023 NHL entry draft. They also seemed to want to add size as both goaltenders stand over 6’4” while both the defensemen they drafted are over 6’2”. The Senators have typically struggled in the net and have never had much stability outside of Craig Anderson’s run. Drafting in the later rounds may not prove fruitful, but with the unpredictability of the goaltending position, it’s worth a chance.

The Senators didn’t have any picks in the first three rounds of this year’s draft after trading them away in various moves the past year or so, but with the pipeline of prospects they already have, they likely aren’t too concerned.

Trade Acquisitions

F – Dominik Kubalik (from Detroit)
D – Donovan Sebrango (from Detroit)

Kubalik and Sebrango both come over from the Red Wings in the Alex DeBrincat trade this summer and figure to be part of the Senators future.

Sebrango was born in Ottawa and is unlikely to make much an impact with the big club anytime soon. He hasn’t shown much at the AHL level and spent a considerable amount of time in the ECHL last season. He is just 21 years old so it wouldn’t be fair to write him off just yet given that he’s only three years removed from being drafted in the third round.

Kubalik on the other hand will likely get a look on the Senators second line which could be great news for the 28-year-old. Kubalik is just three years removed from potting 30 goals as a rookie and had a decent year last year with 20 goals and 25 assists in 81 games. He is probably going to see a reduction in the quality of power play time he is used to but will likely have the opportunity to play with better players 5 on 5. Kubalik won’t match DeBrincat’s offensive numbers, but he should put up good numbers at a fraction of the cost. The Senators didn’t do great in the Debrincat trade, especially considering what they had to give up acquiring the player. Despite that, Kubalik should fit into the Senators middle six and provide some good depth offense.

UFA Signings

F Josh Currie (one year, $775K)*
F Matthew Highmore (one year, $775K)*
G Joonas Korpisalo (five years, $20MM)
F Zack MacEwen (three years, $2.325MM)
C Garrett Pilon (one year, $775K)*
RW Vladimir Tarasenko (one year, $5MM)

The Senators went into the offseason knowing that they needed to improve in net if they wanted to have any chance to make the playoffs in the 2023-24 season. They did not receive NHL goaltending this past season, and while team defense was also an issue, their netminding left a lot to be desired. The Senators opted to give term and a good chunk of change to Korpisalo in hopes of him being the solution. Korpisalo was terrific last season with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Los Angeles Kings, however with the Kings he was able to play behind one of the best defensive teams in the league, something that can’t be said of the Senators. The Senators made a big bet with the 29-year-old and will be hoping that get last year’s version of him, and not the version he was during his first seven years in the NHL.

The Senators opted to take the savings from DeBrincat and sign sniper Tarasenko. Between he and Kubalik they should be able to make up the offense that Ottawa is losing with Debrincat now in Detroit. Tarasenko isn’t the player he was once but should be good for 25 goals and something around 50 points. Tarasenko is just a year removed from a 34-goal campaign and seems to have overcome some of the shoulder problems that severely damaged his play. In Ottawa he won’t be asked to drive a line and should fit in well with some of the Senators younger stars.

RFA Re-Signings

D Erik Brannstrom (one year, $2MM)
D Jacob Bernard-Docker (two years, $1.61MM)
G Kevin Mandolese (one year, $775K)*

*-denotes two-way contract

Brannstrom may never live up to the hype that surrounded him when he was traded to Ottawa as part of the package to acquire Mark Stone. Brannstrom came in with a lot of expectations, and fair or not, he hasn’t lived up to them. That doesn’t mean he isn’t an effective player; it means that he was overvalued and hasn’t turned out to be what Ottawa thought they were getting in the Stone swap. But Brannstrom is still an effective player and could be part of the future on Ottawa’s back end. Brannstrom dressed in a career-high 74 games last season and posted two goals and 16 assists while playing over 16 minutes a night. The 24-year-old will always be undersized, but his skating and skill should remain a valuable asset for the near future. Brannstrom is unlikely to crack Ottawa’s top 4 anytime soon given who is ahead of him on the depth chart, but it is hard to say if he is even suited for that role. Brannstrom may be best suited for a bottom-pairing role on a very good team, something he will find in Ottawa this season.

Departures

F Julien Gauthier (Islanders, two years, $1.575MM)
F Scott Sabourin (San Jose, two years, $1.55MM)
F Patrick Brown (Boston, two years, $1.6MM)
D Nick Holden (unsigned UFA)
F Jake Lucchini (Minnesota, one year, $775K)*
G Antoine Bibeau (signed with AIK IF, Allsv)
D Jonathan Aspirot (unsigned)
F Derick Brassard (unsigned)
G Cam Talbot (Los Angeles, one year, $1MM)
F Olle Alsing (Signed with Leksands IF of SHL)
F Dylan Gambrell (Toronto, one year, $775K)
F Austin Watson (Tampa Bay, PTO)
F Viktor Lodin (IK Oskarshamn, SHL)

The Senators didn’t lose much from their lineup at all this offseason. Most of the pieces that walked out the door had run their course in Ottawa or were past their best-before date and didn’t have much of a future with the Senators. The biggest loss for Ottawa was probably Talbot, but during his time with the Senators he struggled mightily and didn’t give Ottawa what they were hoping for when they trade for him last summer.

Outside of Talbot most of the departing Senators are easily replaceable and should hurt the product on the ice this season.

Salary Cap Outlook

Much like the New York Rangers, we don’t need to look too far into the past to remember when the Ottawa Senators were viewed as a team with ample cap space, good young players and a ton of draft picks and prospects. The prospects arrived and the cap space dried up quick and now Ottawa will enter next summer with less than $15MM in available cap room and just 14 players signed for 2024-25. Ottawa could find themselves tight against the cap going forward, however they have almost all their stars and strong depth pieces locked in long term. The salary cap outlook is okay, it’s not the best, but it could certainly be worse.

Key Questions

Can The Senators Make The Playoffs? There have been a few teams in the past two decades who drafted high-end first-round picks and could never find any playoff success, the recent incarnations of the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs come to mind. The Ottawa Senators are hoping they can find success sooner than their Canadian counterparts, but they must make it to the playoffs first. Ottawa will be in tough this year as the Eastern Conference is a buzzsaw. There are possibly 11 teams in the Eastern Conference that are playoff teams, and three of them will miss out. The Senators are primed to make it this year, but can they?

Is Korpisalo The Answer In Nets? Giving money and term to a goaltender is always risky, Pierre Dorion knows this well (Matt Murray anyone?). But at some point, you must pull the trigger and make a move to solidify your goaltending, especially with your team ready to contend. Dorion knew he had to address this, but only time will tell if Korpisalo was the answer to the question.

Will D.J. Smith Last The Year? Coach Smith has won before in other places, but he has yet to win in the NHL with the Senators. This is a make-or-break season for the coach, he has had a lot of leash thus far, but at this point, the Senators are a playoffs-or-bust team. Should they stumble out of the gate, Smith could find himself on the hotseat very quick. But even though he is likely on the hot seat, Smith will be given some rope to manage this team through the season. The players and managers have all said publicly that he is the guy, and unless something changes behind closed doors, there is no reason to believe they will dump him in season unless the team absolutely falls apart in the early part of the season.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Summer Synopsis: New York Rangers

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Last summer the New York Rangers expectations were sky high as they had just come off a season in which they lost in the Eastern Conference Finals. Many viewed the Rangers as a Stanley Cup contender, as did their management group who went all in for trades to acquire Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko. The club ultimately failed in their bid to bring Lord Stanley back to Broadway and entered this season with tempered expectations after firing Gerald Gallant and struggling to find adequate replacements for a lot of their departing players. Now, the sky isn’t exactly falling in New York City, as they still have Igor Shesterkin manning the net, and they lured Peter Laviolette in to replace the departing Gallant. Couple this with a blueline that still boasts Adam Fox and a forward group that still has Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin and you have a very solid team. Albeit one that is just outside of the upper echelon of NHL teams.

Draft

1-23: RW Gabriel Perreault, U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP)
3-90: D Drew Fortescue, U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP)
5-152: D Rasmus Larsson, Västerås IK J20 (J20 Nationell)
6-178: C Dylan Roobroeck, Oshawa (OHL)
6-183: LW Ty Henricks, Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)

The son of former NHLer Yanic Perreault has drawn comparisons to Lucas Raymond recently and is projected by some to be a perennial 70-point forward. While those expectations are lofty for a late first-round pick, many were surprised that he fell that far down the draft board. Perreault is headed to Boston College where he figures to play at least a few seasons before he turns pro. His skating has improved a lot in recent seasons but is certainly not his strongest attribute. Many scouts have said his skill and hockey sense was top-5 in this draft.

Fortescue was teammates with Perreault at the National Team Development Program and is regarded as a good passer and someone who can act as a quarterback from the backend. His skating isn’t particularly good, and he certainly needs to add to his 176-pound frame, but should he be given proper time to develop he could very well be a bottom pairing defenseman for the Rangers in the next half decade.

Trade Acquisitions

N/A

UFA Signings

C Alex Belzile (two years, $1.55MM)*
C Nick Bonino (one year, $800K)
D Nikolas Brouillard (one year, $775K)*
D Erik Gustafsson (one year, $825K)
D Mac Hollowell (one year, $775K)*
D Connor Mackey (one year, $775K)*
F Riley Nash (two years, $1.55MM)*
F Tyler Pitlick (one year, $787.5K)
G Jonathan Quick (one year, $825K)
F Blake Wheeler (one year, $800K)

*-denotes two-way contract

The Rangers didn’t have the cap space to make any major additions and didn’t really have much cap space to replace any of their departing star players. The team was hamstrung by a flat salary cap and did most of their shopping in the bargain bin.
Blake Wheeler was a terrific signing. At $800K (plus bonuses) he will be a solid middle six addition for New York who can easily chip in 50-60 points. At 37 years old he is unlikely to morph into the perennial 90-point player he was a few years ago, but he could provide some of the offense the team lost with the departures of Kane and Tarasenko.

The Rangers opted to pass on some of the more expensive options on the free agent market to sign Jonathan Quick, and while he brings a wealth of experience, he has been a below-average netminder for about a half-decade. New York could no doubt shop in season if they need to find an adequate backup, which they may need to do if Quick’s numbers are anything close to what they were this past year.

Speaking of experience, Bonino also brings a ton of it to the Rangers and should be a decent option for their fourth-line center role. The 35-year-old used to be a perennial 30–35-point third liner, but at this juncture of his career, he is more of a 20-point player. Bonino had a short-lived reunion with the Pittsburgh Penguins after the trade deadline but quickly found himself injured and was not re-signed. If Bonino can regain his 2021-22 form, he could be a steal at $800K for New York.

RFA Re-Signings

D Ty Emberson (one year, $775K)*
F Anton Blidh (two years, $1.55MM)*
D Zachary Jones (two years, $1.625K)*
LW Alexis Lafreniere (two years, $4.65MM)
D K’Andre Miller (two years, $7.744MM)
D Brandon Scanlin (one year, $775K)*

*-denotes two-way contract

Lafreniere has simply not lived up to the expectations of a first-overall pick. He knows it, the Rangers know it, and both sides would surely love for things to be different. But, now with a bridge contract in hand, the 21-year-old has an opportunity to prove he is worthy of much more. Lafreniere hasn’t found anything close to the offense he displayed in junior, but he has steadily put up better offensive numbers in every NHL season. Should he reach another gear next season he could approach 50 points and line himself up to cash in just two years from now.

Miller likely wanted and likely deserved a long-term contract extension but had to settle for a bridge contract and the Rangers simply ran out of dollars to allocate. Miller established himself as a rookie in 2020-21 putting up five goals and seven assists in 53 games. In his second season, he emerged as an option in the Rangers top-4 and formed a formidable pairing with Jacob Trouba. It was there that Miller began to use his speed to his advantage as well as insert himself physically on many more occasions. Miller also started to find his offensive game this past season as he started to find more confidence with the puck in the offensive zone. Miller posted nine goals and 34 assists in 79 games and showed that he could provide much more to the Rangers than steady defensive play. The Rangers don’t have a great left side on defense and will likely rely on him a lot this season. Should Miller put up numbers similar to this past year, his next contract could end up pricing him out of New York.

Departures

F Ryan Carpenter (San Jose Sharks, one year, $775K)*
F Tim Gettinger (Detroit, one year, $775K)*
D Libor Hajek (Pittsburgh, PTO)
G Jaroslav Halak (unsigned UFA)
D Wyatt Kalynuk (St. Louis, one year, $775K)*
F Patrick Kane (unsigned UFA)
C Patrick Khodorenko (unsigned UFA)
F Will Lockwood (Florida, two years, $1.55MM)*
F Tyler Motte (Tampa Bay, one year, $800K)
F C.J. Smith (unsigned UFA)
F Vladimir Tarasenko (Ottawa, one year, $5MM)
D Cooper Zech (unsigned UFA)

Up front, Kane and Tarasenko are the notable losses and will likely create a void in the offense. The Rangers did well to replace some of their offense with Wheeler, but a lot of goals have come out of their lineup.  Although they will certainly miss the depth scoring, Kane and Tarasenko never felt like a natural fit in New York and turned out to be overpayments. The Rangers were right to shuffle the furniture and although they lost some goals on paper, they may have a better mix without Kane and Tarasenko.

Jaroslav Halak wasn’t great last season for the Rangers but did provide the team with league-average goaltending and was able to take 25 games from Shesterkin. He now finds himself as a free agent and has yet to sign a contract. Although he wasn’t terrific last season he might have been a better option for New York than Quick, but was likely asking for a bigger payday than the $825K used to sign Quick.

Salary Cap Outlook

It wasn’t that long ago that the New York Rangers were viewed as a team on the rise with a ton of good young players, and a pile of cap space. But after a few trades and signings, the cap space begins to dry up very quickly. That is the situation the Rangers found themselves in this summer as they had almost no room to maneuver under the salary cap. They will face a similar crunch next summer with just 14 players signed and roughly $15MM in projected cap space. Thankfully for the Rangers, the bulk of their core is signed through the end of next season, however, it is after that in the summer of 2025 when things could get hairy. Shesterkin will be due for a new contract that will likely come with a substantial raise, as will Miller who will be coming off his recently signed bridge deal. The Rangers will have a few other contracts to deal with in the interim, but they aren’t positioned well to make any major additions to this now-aging core.

Key Questions

Can Jonathan Quick play 20-30 games: The Rangers had precious little cap space to spend on a backup goaltender and elected to sign three-time Stanley Cup champion Quick. The gamble could pay off if Quick is able to regain his 2021-22 form in which he posted a respectable .910 save percentage and 23 wins in 46 games. However, if he is the goaltender he has been for most of the past five years, the Rangers could be in trouble. Quick has posted a sub.910 save percentage every other year since 2018 and hasn’t been able to provide consistent goaltending in Los Angeles, despite playing on a very good defensive team. Should he falter in New York, it could prove disastrous for the Rangers should they be forced to overwork Shesterkin.

Will The Young Guns Breakthrough? Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko were drafted first and second overall (in different drafts) to much fanfare back in 2019 and 2020. While both players are clearly NHL players, that isn’t what you hope for when you pick at the top of the draft two years in a row. Between the two youngsters, they have just one season in which they’ve passed forty points (Kakko in 2022-23) and they haven’t been able to show the offensive prowess they did in their younger days. One silver lining for New York is that both players seem to be trending in the right direction, albeit slower than the team would like.

Can Kreider Score 50 Again? Perspective can be a funny thing. Had Kreider not had a 50-goal explosion in 2021-22, then last season’s 36 goals would have been viewed as an enormous success, a career year, a breakthrough campaign. But on the heels of a 52-goal season, it looked like a failure. The main difference was Kreider’s powerplay production. In 2021-22 he had 26 power play goals, last year he had just eight. While the steep drop looks disastrous, it really wasn’t. Kreider was still a very strong player for the Rangers and despite now being in his early thirties it doesn’t seem likely that he is done yet. But can he hit 50 goals again? It’s probably unlikely, but given that he potted 36 just last year it is not unfathomable to think he could score 40 this year.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Who Will Be The NHL’s Next Highest Paid Player?

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Auston Matthews recent extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs has earned him the title of highest-paid player in the NHL. His new deal doesn’t kick in until 2024-25, but at that point, he will make an average annual salary of $13.25MM (CapFriendly) per season for four years. Prior to his new deal, Matthews was the fourth highest-paid player in the game behind Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Artemi Panarin.

MacKinnon’s new eight-year $100.8MM deal kicks in this season which will make him the highest-paid player in the league at $12.6MM for this year. His actual salary is much higher than his cap hit at $16.5MM, but the final four years of his deal will back-dive to $9.9MM in salary. McDavid has three years left on his current deal with a cap hit of $12.5MM while Panarin’s deal also concludes in three seasons and pays him $11.642MM annually.

With Matthews having topped MacKinnon’s new extension by over $600K annually the question now becomes, who will be the NHL’s next highest-paid player?

Connor McDavid – McDavid is the obvious answer. He is arguably the best player in the game and undoubtedly the best player in the world with the puck on his stick. The Richmond Hill, Ontario native will be 29 years old when he reaches unrestricted free agency and could essentially ask teams for a blank check and fill in the maximum salary under the salary cap. That is if he remains the best player in the world. While it seems hard to believe there is a world in which McDavid isn’t the game’s most explosive player, three years is a long time, and in hockey, it can be an eternity. There is also another Connor who could be the one to top Matthews’ extension.

Connor Bedard – It seems crazy that Bedard has yet to play a minute in the NHL and he could conceivably be the next highest-paid player in the NHL. But it could happen. Bedard signed his three-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on July 17th and should be a lock to make their opening night lineup. He will become a restricted free agent in 2026, the same time that McDavid becomes a UFA. It is fair to wonder how Bedard will produce once he is playing against men in the NHL, especially given that he will be playing on a bad Blackhawks team that will have its struggles. But he dominated the WHL with 71 goals and 72 assists in 57 games and obliterated the competition at the World Junior Championships with nine goals and 14 assists in 7 games. He’s a phenom, and in three years he could be paid like one.

Leon Draisaitl – Draisaitl has been one of the best bargains in the NHL since signing his eight-year $68MM contract back in August of 2017. All he has done during his six years under this contract is score 50+ goals three times, top 100 points four times, and win a Hart Trophy as well as an Art Ross Trophy. At 27-years-old Draisaitl is coming off the best season of his career having posted 52 goals and 76 assists in 80 games.

All things considered, it seems likely that Draisaitl will top Matthews’ contract two seasons from now when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The native of Cologne, Germany will be 29 years old, and the salary cap should go up substantially between now and then positioning him to cash in big with any team of his choosing. Draisaitl will likely hold onto that distinction for just one season as McDavid and Bedard will be following right behind him and could top Draisaitl to earn the title of the highest-paid player in the NHL.

Edmonton Oilers Rank Last In Salary Cap Rankings

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Daily Faceoff has ranked the Edmonton Oilers last in salary cap efficiency. This comes as no surprise after the website began its annual salary cap rankings list and after a deep dive into the numbers determined that there isn’t a team in a worse situation financially than the Oilers. It isn’t a shock given the Oilers current salary cap woes. The team finds itself with just 21 players on the roster and only $382,499 in cap space. Though finishing dead last on the list is new, Edmonton ranked second last in last year’s version of the list.

Daily Faceoff’s ranking system looks at no-move clauses, dead cap space, the quality of long-term contracts, bargain contracts, and the good deals versus the bad ones. Unfortunately, based on those criteria, it is easy to see why the Oilers find themselves at the bottom of that list. Edmonton has several problematic contracts on their books, and while they have some bargains like Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The bad deals outweigh the great ones.

Darnell Nurse is a really good defenseman; he eats a ton of minutes for the Oilers and plays a lot of tough situations. However, he does suffer a lot of mental lapses, and at $9.25 million a season, he just doesn’t bring the offensive upside you would like to see in a defenseman making that kind of money. Nurse is also likely to wear down as the miles pile up on his body. Those difficult minutes require that he play with a ton of physicality. It could take its toll on the 28-year-old when he gets on the wrong side of 30.

Some of the other bad contracts on the Oilers are goaltender Jack Campbell at $5MM per season as well as third-line winger Warren Foegele and third-pairing defenceman Brett Kulak at $2.75 million each. The contracts come in addition to the nearly $2MM per year the Oilers are still paying on the James Neal buyout.

On the surface, these contracts don’t look like outrageous overpayments because all the players listed above are still functional NHLers. However, in the flat cap era Campbell, Foegele, and Kulak are all replacement-level NHLers who could have been replaced by other players on contracts of less than $1MM per season. Couple that with the mishandling of Nurse’s previous bridge deals and it all amounts to around $10MM in inefficient salary cap spending that could lead to big problems for the Oilers down the road when they need to offer extensions to McDavid, Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard.

Arizona Coyotes Extend Bill Armstrong

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The Arizona Coyotes announced this morning that they have extended the contract of general manager Bill Armstrong. Financial terms and the length of the multi-year agreement were not released. The deal comes on the heels of what was a very busy summer for Armstrong and the Coyotes as they have added a lot of talent to their NHL roster including veterans Jason Zucker, Matt Dumba, Sean Durzi, Alexander Kerfoot and Nick Bjugstad.

PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan later reported Armstrong is now under contract for six more seasons – Armstrong signed a four-year extension, while the team picked up a previously existing option for 2024-25. He’s now under contract through the 2028-29 campaign.

The 53-year-old has been the Coyotes general manager since the 2020-21 season and has overseen a rather large rebuild during that time. Armstrong essentially stripped the Coyotes roster down to the studs and rebuilt it through drafting, trades, and free agency. Prior to joining Arizona, the Richmond Hill, Ontario, native worked in the St. Louis Blues’ scouting department from 2004-18. It wasn’t until the 2018-19 season that he earned a promotion to assistant GM before eventually joining Arizona.

The Coyotes have not qualified for the playoffs since Armstrong took over, and the team has only made the playoffs a total of four times since 2004. While they are once again going through a lean period, Arizona looks to be on the verge of a good run of hockey in the desert. Should they stay there.

The team will likely get a jolt from this summer’s signings and trades as well as top prospect Logan Cooley, who could be a difference-maker in Arizona as early as this season.

The signing of the coaching staff, Armstrong, and the player acquisitions this summer show stability within the hockey operations of Arizona, even if the team’s future off the ice is up in the air.

Niagara IceDogs Hire Bruce Boudreau

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The Niagara IceDogs announced this morning that they have hired former NHL head coach Bruce Boudreau as a Senior Advisor. The former Jack Adams award winner last coached the Vancouver Canucks and was unceremoniously fired by the club this past January after parts of two seasons at the helm.

Boudreau coached the Canucks to a 50-40 record during his time in Vancouver and was let go after weeks of speculation about his job security. Boudreau was stoic despite all the noise around him and he received a lot of support from the Canucks faithful in what was ultimately his last game as a head coach in Vancouver.

The 66-year-old ranks 21st all-time in NHL games behind the bench as well as in coaching victories. He has coached 1087 games in the NHL, compiling a record of 617-342-128. During his time in the NHL, he coached the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild, and the aforementioned Canucks. He won his Jack Adams award in 2008 in a season that saw him guide the Capitals to a Southeast division title with a 43-31-8 record.

Now, at least for the time being, it appears as though Boudreau is ready for a new challenge. He joins his son Ben in Niagara, who joined Niagara’s coaching staff in July as an associate coach.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Noah Gregor To PTO

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The Toronto Maple Leafs announced this morning that they’ve signed center Noah Gregor to a PTO for their upcoming training camp. Gregor spent last season with the San Jose Sharks where he posted 10 goals and seven assists in 57 games.

The 25-year-old was slated to be a restricted free agent this summer until the Sharks opted to non-tender him a contract, making him an unrestricted free agent. The former fourth-round pick had put up 26 goals and 25 assists over parts of four seasons with the Sharks. Gregor also played for Canada at the 2022 World Championship posting two goals and an assist in seven games as Canada won a silver medal.

While he has dressed in 178 career NHL games, Gregor has struggled to remain in the NHL, having spent time in almost every season with the Sharks AHL affiliate. Last year was the first time in his pro career that Gregor didn’t dress in any AHL games, as he managed to stick with the big club. When he has played in the AHL, Gregor has been a very proficient offensive contributor with 40 career points in 43 career AHL games.

Gregor will now have an opportunity to make the Maple Leafs out of training camp and could be slated for their fourth line. Barring that, it is very possible that he ends up on a two-way contract that sees him shuttle back and forth between the NHL and AHL.

Pittsburgh Penguins Hire Doug Wilson

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The Pittsburgh Penguins announced this morning that have hired former San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson as a Senior Advisor of Hockey Operations. According to the Penguins press release, Wilson’s role will see him provide his opinion and counsel to Penguins president and general manager Kyle Dubas, as well as offer his expertise relating to all hockey matters, including personnel decisions.

Wilson brings over four decades of NHL experience to the Penguins management group having spent over 25 years in management with the San Jose Sharks on top of his 16-year Hall-of-Fame playing career. Wilson oversaw a Sharks team that was consistently in contention without ever undergoing a true rebuild. Something the Penguins are likely staring down when the Sidney Crosby–Evgeni Malkin–Kris Letang era of hockey comes to an end.

Wilson was inducted into the Hockey Hall-of-Fame as a player in 2020 after dressing in 1024 career NHL games split between the Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks. The Ottawa, Ontario native recorded 237 goals in his career and 827 points and was the Norris Trophy winner in 1982.

He spent 19 years as the general manager of the Sharks, guiding them to 14 playoff appearances as well as a Presidents’ Trophy in 2009, to go along with six division titles. The Sharks never did win a cup under Wilson’s tutelage, coming close in 2016 when they lost in the Stanley Cup final to the Penguins.

Since arriving in Pittsburgh, Dubas has rebuilt the Penguins both off and on the ice, having overhauled their defense, their forward group, and now the hockey operations department. It should make for an interesting season in Pittsburgh as there is renewed optimism after the Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006. The Penguins have felt stale since 2018 and with the addition of Dubas, along with the Erik Karlsson trade, it seems the Penguins are trending in a positive direction as they enter what is likely to be the final run with this core.

Los Angeles Kings Sign Jean-François Bérubé To PTO

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CapFriendly is reporting that the Los Angeles Kings have signed goaltender Jean-François Bérubé to a professional tryout agreement. Bérubé will join netminders Pheonix Copley, Cam Talbot, and David Rittich in the collection of goalies who will vie for two NHL roster spots.

A native of Repentigny, Quebec, Bérubé spent last season with the Panthers’ organization playing for Charlotte in the AHL. While a member of the Checkers, Bérubé posted an .885 save percentage to go along with a 3.22 goals-against average in 19 appearances.

Bérubé was originally drafted into the NHL by the Kings back in 2009. The Kings selected the 32-year-old in the fourth round, 95th overall and he spent the first four professional seasons of his career with the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL.

It wasn’t until the 2015-16 season with the New York Islanders that Bérubé made his NHL debut. This kickstarted a three-year run in which he bounced back and forth between the NHL and AHL.

Bérubé’s last NHL appearances came with the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2021-22 season, where he dressed in six games, going 3-2-0 with a 4.12 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage.

Given his career numbers, and where his game was last season in the AHL, it seems unlikely that Bérubé will crack the Kings lineup and earn an NHL contract. However, he should be able to snag an AHL contract and play professional hockey in North America this season.

Edmonton Oilers Add To Coaching Staff

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The Edmonton Oilers announced today that they’ve added to their coaching staff promoting Noah Segall to their video coach while Mike Fanelli has been hired as Video & Coaching Analytics Coordinator. The news broke this morning as Segall will replace former video coach Jeremy Coupal who had a mutual split with the team in July. Coupal had become a bit of a cult hero in Edmonton thanks to his many split-second decisions to challenge offside calls on opposing team goals. Thanks to Coupal’s quick work the Oilers were able to wipe many goals against off the board, something they are sure to miss in his absence.

Segall does have previous experience in the video coach role with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, a role he held before he joined the Oilers last year and worked under Coupal as Edmonton’s video coordinator. He also worked in college hockey with the University of Vermont, the University of Wisconsin, Canisius College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Segall’s new job, while important, is more of a technical role, while the hiring of Fanelli is an indication that Edmonton is planning to further embrace the fancy stats around the game of hockey. The 28-year-old won a pair of Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning after spending four years in the team’s analytics department. He also has USHL coaching experience as he served as an assistant with the Sioux City Musketeers, winning a championship with the team in 2022.

Teams have been embracing the numbers game for quite a while now, but it seems that it has become more prevalent in the last few years. Just last week the Ottawa Senators hired the first full-time analytics person on their staff when they brought Sean Tierney into the organization, signalling that teams realize that there could be an advantage to evaluating the deeper facets of the game that go unnoticed to the naked eye.

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