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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.

Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Stefan Matteau To PTO

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CapFriendly is reporting that the Columbus Blue Jackets have signed former 2012 first-round pick Stefan Matteau to a professional tryout agreement. The free-agent forward was selected 29th overall by the New Jersey Devils and bounced around between five different franchises over the course of a decade before he spent last season in Sweden and Germany.

Matteau is returning to a team that he was part of for two seasons from 2019-2021. During that time Matteau didn’t do much when he was with the big club posting just three goals and one assist in 27 NHL games.

Over the course of his seven seasons in the NHL Matteau didn’t contribute much offensively as he posted just six goals and five assists in 92 career NHL games. His AHL numbers are marginally better as his best offensive season came in 2019-20 with the Cleveland Monsters when he posted 12 goals and 16 assists in 50 games.

Matteau will get another chance to earn an NHL job for this upcoming season, something he has had a lot of opportunities to do in the past through various two-way contracts. Teams have always been tantalized with Matteau’s first-round pick pedigree as well as his speed and size, however, the 29-year-old was never able to put it all together and find any sustained success in the NHL.

In Columbus, he should have an opportunity to battle for a spot in the lineup, but would need to show a lot to bounce a young player from the bottom of the Blue Jackets lineup. The likeliest outcome for Matteau will be an AHL contract with the possibility of a recall should a Blue Jackets forward go down with an injury.

Anaheim Ducks Sign Tristan Luneau To ELC

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Eric Stephens of The Athletic is reporting that the Anaheim Ducks have signed their 2022 second-round pick Tristan Luneau to a three-year entry-level contract. Luneau’s game took a dramatic step in the right direction this past season as the native of Victoriaville, Quebec took home the Emile Bouchard Trophy awarded to the QMJHL Defenseman of the Year.

The 19-year-old nearly doubled his offensive output from his draft year to this year, as he went from 12 goals and 31 assists in 63 games back in 2021-22, to an offensive explosion this past year posting 20 goals and 63 assists in 65 games.

Luneau will join the Ducks farm system that is arguably the best in the NHL, and although he is joining a first-class prospect pipeline, he will likely spend one more year in the QMJHL. Barring unforeseen injuries he should dominate once again, as many predicted he would when he was taken first overall by the Gatineau Olympiques in the QMJHL Entry Draft.

With Luneau now under contract, he joins Leo Carlsson, Jackson LaCombe, Jamie Drysdale, Trevor Zegras, and a slew of other players under the age of 25 who should make up the Ducks core over the next decade in what should be an exciting time to be an Anaheim Ducks fan.

Examining A Pivotal Offseason For The Boston Bruins

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Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub wrote a piece today going over his thoughts on the offseason that was for the Boston Bruins. Anderson writes that while the offseason losses were a challenge for the team, he believes the club can still contend for a division title, and at the very least make the playoffs in the Atlantic Division.

While Anderson offers up many reasons for optimism, he does believe that if the Bruins were to falter, they should look to move on from the eight unrestricted free agents that the Bruins will be dressing on opening night and try to acquire assets for them rather than throwing assets after band-aid solutions. Boston does have an extensive list of unrestricted free agents at the end of this year including Jake DeBrusk, James van Riemsdyk, Milan Lucic, A.J. Greer, Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Jakub Zboril. Moving on from these players would help facilitate a re-tool should the Bruins opt to go down that path.

There is a belief with Anderson and others that the Bruins could be buyers in the summer of 2024 when the cap goes up and the bonuses come off Boston’s cap. An added bonus to selling at the deadline would be that any assets acquired at the deadline could help the team make moves next summer when they have cap space to play with. Now, while it seems silly to be looking at trade deadline moves when the season hasn’t even started, it is an interesting idea for the Bruins for the reasons mentioned above.

One final note, and this could be a big one, is that Boston’s first-round pick this season was dealt in the Tyler Bertuzzi trade. The pick is top-10 protected and if Boston were to fall down the standings, they could grab a top-10 pick this year in a re-tooling year and give Detroit their 2025 pick when they presumably have re-stocked the NHL roster. The risk there of course is that they falter again in 2025 and hand the Red Wings a top-10 pick, but that seems unlikely given that the team will still have some solid pieces in place and possibly some reinforcements to join them.

Which Coaches Could Be On The Hot Seat?

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There is an expression in sports that coaches are hired to be fired. It is certainly true in hockey, particularly in the summer. This past summer the NHL saw six coaching changes, in the summer of 2022 there were 10. While it is commonplace for teams to make a coaching change after a disappointing season, there is always the possibility of an in-season move to give a jolt to an underperforming hockey team. The Pittsburgh Penguins did it twice in 2009 and 2016 where they made an in-season coaching change and found themselves lifting the Stanley Cup at the end of the season. The same goes for the St. Louis Blues who went through a similar fate in 2019 with Craig Berube at the helm under an interim head coach tag.

Given that the in-season coaching change is possible. Let’s look at which NHL coaches could be on the hot seat this year should their team falter.

D.J. Smith – Ottawa Senators head coach Smith hasn’t had a lot of success in Canada’s capital city. As Steve Warne wrote in The Hockey News back in May, 11 other head coaches have been both hired and fired since Smith took over behind the Senators bench. Ottawa has been incredibly patient with Smith and their rebuilding club given that they have yet to experience any regular season success a half-decade into the rebuild. Many fans in Ottawa were calling for Smith’s job last season, but general manager Pierre Dorion elected to keep his bench boss for the time being. As Adam Proteau wrote in The Hockey News this past month, the new ownership group in Ottawa will be looking for quick results this upcoming season. One must believe that if Ottawa struggles out of the gate this season or appears destined to miss the playoffs by mid-season, Smith could be the first coach to be let go.

Craig Berube – As mentioned above Berube was brought in by St. Louis as a mid-season replacement and led the Blues to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Since that cup victory, the Blues have just one playoff series win and are coming off a year in which they missed the playoffs. While the blame doesn’t rest squarely on Berube, he did appear at times to be increasingly frustrated with starting netminder Jordan Binnington and he seemed to be unable to answer for some of the problems plaguing St. Louis last season. A fresh start should do Berube well this season, but if the team stumbles out of the gate once again all bets will be off. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic doesn’t believe Berube will be fired, but he also doesn’t rule it out depending on how the team fares this upcoming season.

Mike Sullivan – Sullivan is a two-time Stanley Cup champion as a head coach and has cemented his legacy in the city of Pittsburgh regardless of how his relationship one day ends with the Penguins. While there were many calls last season to relieve Sullivan of his duties, Penguins ownership had little desire to move on from the 55-year-old. Last year the Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006, but in the eyes of ownership, it appears that failure rests squarely on the previous management group. The Fenway Sports Group has already shown a lot of faith in Sullivan by extending him prior to the expiration of his current contract and by heavily involving him in the search for the team’s next general manager. At this time, it seems unlikely that Sullivan would be removed unless the Penguins absolutely collapse during the regular season.

While this list is hardly exhaustive, it does give a snapshot of which coaches have had their names bandied about as possible in-season coaching changes. D.J. Smith certainly seems like the likeliest candidate given that he is the only name on the list without a Stanley Cup to his name. But Stanley Cup-winning head coaches have been fired before, and no coach is above being fired no matter how good their track record is.

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