Hockey Canada Names Coaching Staff For 2025 World Juniors
Hockey Canada announced yesterday its full coaching staff for its national junior team ahead of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, in which they’ll attempt to medal on home soil. The tournament is back in the Canadian capital this/next year, as Ottawa hosts it for the first time since 2009.
Back at the helm for the third time is former Senators head coach Dave Cameron. He’s gotten the Canadians to the gold medal game in both of his opportunities behind the bench thus far (2011, 2022), losing 5-3 to Russia the first time around but redeeming himself with a 3-2 overtime win over Finland 11 years later after the tournament was rescheduled to August due to COVID-19.
Cameron’s other high-level national team experience includes serving as an assistant coach for the 2016 World Championship and serving as an assistant at the WJC in 2009 and 2010. In league play, he’s spent the last three years as head coach of the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League, where he’s accumulated a 115-67-22 record and made the postseason each time.
He’ll have three assistants, the first of which is Sylvain Favreau, who’s coming off his first season as head coach of the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. He guided the Voltigeurs to a QMJHL championship, their first since 2009, and also won a gold medal as an assistant coach for Canada’s U18 club at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Joining Favreau is Mike Johnston, who’s served as the general manager and head coach of the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks on and off since 2008. Penguins fans will remember him for his brief stint behind their bench in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 campaigns – he was fired in December 2015 and promptly replaced by Mike Sullivan, who led Pittsburgh to back-to-back Stanley Cups. It’s Johnston’s first call-up to the national team since 2009 when he served as Canada’s head coach at the U18 World Juniors. He was previously a national team fixture as GM, assistant coach, and head coach at various World Championship, World Cup and Olympic events in the 1990s.
The final assistant is Chris Lazary, who’ll serve behind the bench of the national team for the first time at any level with the upcoming tournament. The 42-year-old just coached the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit to a Memorial Cup as the host city, taking down the OHL champion London Knights 4-3 in the championship game after the Knights bounced them in the league’s Western Conference Final. He’s been the Spirit’s bench boss since being promoted from associate coach on Nov. 18, 2018.
Golden Knights Sign Callahan Burke, Robert Hägg
The Golden Knights have brought in forward Callahan Burke and defenseman Robert Hägg on one-year deals for 2024-25, per their CapFriendly pages. Burke’s is a two-way deal paying him $775K in the NHL and $300K in the minors, while Hägg’s contract is a one-way worth $775K.
Burke, 27, began his professional career as an undrafted free agent signing by the AHL’s Colorado Eagles in 2020 out of Notre Dame. The Massachusetts native worked his way up the organizational ladder, playing a season and a half for the Eagles before earning an entry-level deal from the Avalanche in December of 2021. He remained with the Avs on two-way deals for the next few seasons, eventually making his NHL debut over a two-game stint early in the 2022-23 campaign.
The Avs traded Burke to the Hurricanes just after this past season began, but without a full-time AHL affiliate in 2023-24, Carolina loaned him back to the Eagles for the entirety of the year aside from a one-game call-up in October. He didn’t register a point in his three combined NHL showings over the past two seasons, posting a -1 rating while averaging 8:14 per game. The 5’10”, 183-lb forward is coming off a decent season with the Eagles, tying his career-high of 16 goals and 39 points in 57 games.
He provides some veteran experience for AHL Henderson, where he’s likely destined for should he clear waivers during training camp.
Despite being signed to a one-way deal, a similar fate likely belies Hägg, who played just five games with the Ducks last season and spent nearly all of the campaign on assignment to AHL San Diego. Now 29, the Swede is a decent call-up option with nearly 350 games of NHL experience. He could provide some decent competition for Ben Hutton and Kaedan Korczak for an extra defense spot out of camp, but the latter signing a two-year, one-way deal earlier this week indicates Vegas is likely ready to give the 23-year-old more consistent big-league minutes.
Hägg was a second-round pick of the Flyers in 2013, suiting up in 236 games for them over five seasons before being traded to the Sabres in 2021. Since then, he’s played spot duty on the Panthers’ and Red Wings’ blue lines as well as Anaheim’s.
Islanders Sign Marc Gatcomb, Fredrik Karlström
The Islanders have signed depth forwards Marc Gatcomb and Fredrik Karlström to one-year deals. Gatcomb’s is a two-way pact worth $775K in the NHL and $125K in the AHL, per PuckPedia. PuckPedia also reported Karlström’s signing as a one-way pact yesterday, but CapFriendly has his deal as a two-way worth $775K in the NHL and $250K in the minors.
It’s the first NHL contract for Gatcomb, who turns 25 later this month. That makes him slightly too old for an entry-level contract, so this is a standard two-way deal. After finishing up a four-year stint at UConn in 2022, he’s spent the last two seasons on AHL contracts with the Canucks’ affiliate in Abbotsford, where he’s totaled 12 goals, 16 assists and 28 points in 112 games. Most of that offense came this past season, recording nine goals and 20 points in 61 games.
Gatcomb’s development has been a slow climb since his freshman year at UConn in 2018-19 when he scored just one goal in 31 games. Now an everyday fixture at the second-highest level in the North American pyramid, he’ll look to take another step forward this season after he’s presumably assigned to AHL Bridgeport during training camp.
Karlström, meanwhile, does have some NHL experience to his name. The third-round pick of the Stars in 2016 made eight appearances during brief call-ups for Dallas in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, posting one assist and a +3 rating while averaging 8:18 per night. Since coming to North America three years ago, he’s spent nearly all of his time on assignment to AHL Texas, where he compiled 47 goals and 99 points in 184 games. He played in all 72 regular-season games for Texas last year and produced a career-high 21 goals and 44 points, along with a +14 rating.
He’s the more likely of the pair to see an NHL call-up this season, but both are likely slated for Bridgeport to open the campaign.
Capitals Re-Sign Alex Limoges To Two-Way Deal
The Capitals are bringing back one of their top minor league scorers for another season, as they’ve re-signed forward Alex Limoges to a two-way deal, according to a team announcement. He’ll earn a $300K salary while in the AHL and cost $775K against the cap if on the NHL roster.
Limoges, 27 in September, has yet to make his NHL debut but has been one of the AHL’s more consistent scorers over the past few seasons. After finishing his collegiate career at Penn State during the pandemic, the undrafted Virginia native spent two seasons on AHL contracts with the Ducks’ affiliate in San Diego before landing an entry-level deal with the Jets in 2022. He spent the entire season on assignment to AHL Manitoba, though, and didn’t receive a qualifying offer the following summer, paving the way for him to sign a two-way deal contract with the Capitals last offseason.
The 6’1″, 201-lb forward has averaged around 0.80 points per game throughout his minor-league career, a number he climbed slightly north of this season. On assignment to AHL Hershey for the entirety of the season, Limoges finished second on the team in scoring with 51 points (24 goals, 27 assists) in 62 games with a +17 rating. He added 13 points in 20 playoff games as he helped guide Hershey to its second straight Calder Cup championship.
Limoges’ likelihood of receiving an NHL recall dwindles as he ages, but he’s likely still among the Caps’ top five or six options to bring up from the minors if injuries strike. His new deal represents a decent raise from last season’s $235K AHL salary. While he was an RFA this summer, he’ll age out by the end of 2024-25 and will be a UFA upon expiry.
Sharks Sign Carl Grundström To Two-Year Deal
The Sharks have signed left winger Carl Grundström to a two-year, $3.6MM contract, per a team release. The team also officially announced a two-year deal for Ty Dellandrea, as reported earlier Thursday. Grundström’s deal will carry a $1.8MM cap hit until expiry in 2026.
Grundström spent the 2023-24 season with the Kings, where he’d spent his entire NHL career to date after being acquired from the Maple Leafs as part of the Jake Muzzin trade in 2019. The 26-year-old winger was limited to 50 appearances last season by injury, posting eight goals and four assists for 12 points.
The 2016 second-round pick was a solid fourth-line checking winger from the moment he entered the league five years ago, and little has changed since. In 236 career showings in L.A., the Swede had provided solid depth offense with 40 goals and 67 points while recording 564 hits. He’s stayed mostly disciplined despite his physical play, never tallying more than 26 PIMs in a single season.
With the Kings looking to shore up their defensive depth, they dealt Grundström’s signing rights to their NorCal rival in exchange for stay-at-home defender Kyle Burroughs last week. It took a few days, but San Jose now has him under contract, avoiding a potential arbitration hearing. It’s a $500K raise annually over Grundström’s previous deal. He’ll compete for ice time with other grinders like Klim Kostin and Luke Kunin in San Jose’s bottom six.
Sharks Sign Ty Dellandrea To Two-Year Deal
The Sharks have signed right winger Ty Dellandrea to a two-year, $2.6MM deal, according to PuckPedia. He’ll cost $1.3MM against the cap in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
Dellandrea, 24 later this month, has 151 games of NHL experience, all of those coming with the Stars over the past four years. An RFA this summer, the Sharks acquired his signing rights from Dallas for a 2025 fourth-round pick on June 19.
The 2018 13th overall pick looked like he had locked down a full-time NHL role after playing in all 82 games for Dallas in 2022-23, but he fell out of favor in the most recent campaign. In that 2022-23 season, Dellandrea scored nine goals with 19 assists for 28 points with a +9 rating. He was deployed in fourth-line minutes at even strength but was an important part of the Stars’ penalty kill, averaging just over two minutes per game there to bring his nightly average to 14:12.
But in 2023-24, he played just 42 games for Dallas, posting nine points and a -10 rating. He spent the whole season on the NHL roster but sat for about half of it as a healthy scratch, including a nearly three-week stretch in January. He averaged 12:40 per game on the year, still seeing significant usage shorthanded when dressed, but his even-strength minutes were reduced by a decent margin.
Time is slowly running out for Dellandrea, who scored 70 points in 47 games with the Ontario Hockey League’s Flint Firebirds in his final season of junior hockey, to develop offensively. The Sharks still likely see upside in Dellandrea as a potential future third-line fixture with a solid two-way game, especially considering his strong showing in his one full season in the minors (50 points in 68 games with AHL Texas in 2021-22). They can be patient with his development, too – he won’t be UFA-eligible until 2028.
The Sharks have been focused on adding some more NHL-experienced talent to protect their developing forward prospects in recent weeks. They claimed forward Barclay Goodrow off waivers, signed Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg in free agency, and brought in depth winger Carl Grundström in a trade with the Kings, although he’s still an RFA in need of a deal. That’s likely GM Mike Grier‘s next order of business after getting one done for Dellandrea today.
PHR Live Chat: 7/3/24
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Senators Acquire Jan Jeník From Utah
Utah has traded RFA forward Jan Jeník to the Senators, per a team announcement. Another unsigned RFA, forward Egor Sokolov, is heading to Utah in exchange for Jeník.
Jeník, 24 in September, had been with the Coyotes organization since being drafted in the third round in 2018. He’s never broken into a full-time NHL role, although he does have 22 games of experience over the past four seasons. He’s notched four goals and two assists, and a -4 rating in that time, averaging just 9:51 per game.
The Czech forward has been solid on the farm with AHL Tucson, though, peaking with 47 points in 51 games two years ago. He’s put up top-six numbers since, finishing this season with 16 goals and 36 points in 55 games. The move had been a long time coming – he was seeking trade options as far back as last August – and now gets the fresh start he desires in Ottawa.
Utah acquires a player just a few months older in Sokolov, although he wasn’t drafted until 2020 as an over-age selection in the second round. Like Jeník, he’s posted strong AHL numbers without getting an extended NHL look. He trailed off somewhat this past season, though, scoring 21 goals and 46 points in 71 games. It was his lowest per-game average with AHL Belleville since turning pro four years ago.
Both players need new deals, but they’ll come in as cheap two-way agreements over the next little while. The chances of either making their new teams’ rosters are slim, although Jeník arguably has a better chance with Ottawa’s slimmer forward depth and their need for players on six-figure cap hits.
Kraken Promote Jessica Campbell To Assistant Coach, Hire Bob Woods
July 3: Seattle has officially promoted Campbell, per Clark. She’ll indeed be the first woman behind an NHL bench when next season begins. They’ve also hired former Wild assistant Bob Woods in the same role, per a team release. Woods, who had been behind the Minnesota bench since 2017, was fired along with head coach Dean Evason last November.
May 28: The Kraken still have one spot to fill after promoting Dan Bylsma from AHL Coachella Valley to be their next head coach. When they let go of Dave Hakstol last month, the team also announced that assistant coach Paul McFarland would not be returning. During his introductory press conference today, Bylsma said the organization is considering promoting Jessica Campbell, who serves on his AHL staff, for the role (via ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark).
If hired for the role, Campbell would be the first woman to serve as a full-time assistant coach in the NHL. As a player, she won the silver medal with Canada at the 2015 World Championship, along with a four-year career at Cornell University and a three-year stint professional with the Calgary Inferno of the defunct Canadian Women’s Hockey League. After retiring in 2020, the 31-year-old spent a handful of seasons coaching in Europe before being named to Bylsma’s staff in Coachella Valley ahead of the 2022-23 season.
It wouldn’t be her first time serving on the staff of a top-level men’s professional league team, though. She served as the skating coach for the Swedish Hockey League’s Malmö Redhawks in 2020-21 and an assistant for the Nürnberg Ice Tigers in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in 2021-22. When tabbed to the inaugural Coachella Valley coaching staff two years ago, she also became the first woman to be a full-time assistant at the AHL level.
If replacing McFarland’s role directly, Campbell would assume control of the Kraken’s power play, which clicked at just 18.4% – 28th in the league – during his three-year tenure. The power play has also been her purview in the AHL, finishing roughly league average (~20%) in both seasons.
Both Bylsma and Campbell’s seasons are still ongoing in Coachella Valley. The Firebirds are back in the Western Conference Finals of the Calder Cup Playoffs for the second year in a row.
Sharks Notes: Celebrini, Chernyshov, Afanasyev, Ulmer
Sharks first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini will decide whether he’s turning pro for 2024-25 shortly after this week’s development camp ends, he told reporters yesterday (via San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng). The high-end two-way center prospect won the Hobey Baker Award for the top player in college hockey last season after recording 64 points in 38 games for Boston University as a freshman and didn’t turn 18 until well after the season had ended.
It’s overwhelmingly likely he’ll be in the San Jose lineup come opening night, as Peng says he’s been led to believe Celebrini is turning pro for months now. Only two first-overall picks out of college in recent memory – Erik Johnson (2006) and Owen Power (2021) – have returned to school after their draft year. In Johnson’s case, it wasn’t a return, either. He’d spent his draft year in the U.S. National Team Development Program before attending the University of Minnesota in 2006-07. Either way, both players were defenders, and neither was viewed as the true franchise talent Celebrini is.
Elsewhere out of the Bay Area:
- San Jose is also facing a similar decision from their third pick of the draft – Russian winger Igor Chernyshov, who they picked up with the first pick of the second round (33rd overall). While he was under contract to continue with Dynamo Moskva in the Kontinental Hockey League, that may no longer be the case. Mikhail Zislis of Sport-Express reports he’s terminating the deal to head to North American juniors. Chernyshov’s agent, Dan Milstein, followed up to Peng that there’s “nothing imminent” about Chernyshov’s decision for next season but did confirm it was up in the air. If he is joining the junior ranks on this side of the Atlantic, it would be with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League. They selected Chernyshov in today’s CHL Import Draft.
- While one Russian is getting closer to San Jose, another appears to be leaving. Peng reported earlier this week that RFA forward Egor Afanasyev is set to sign a two-year deal in the KHL, presumably with CSKA Moskva, who owns his rights. The Sharks acquired Afanasyev’s signing rights in a swap with the Predators last month, sending 2020 first-round pick Ozzy Wiesblatt the other way. He made just two NHL appearances with Nashville last season but had 54 points in 56 games on assignment to AHL Milwaukee.
- On the off-ice side, the Sharks are reportedly adding to their coaching staff in the form of former AHL Abbotsford assistant Jeff Ulmer, The Hockey News’ Max Miller reports. It’s unclear in what capacity, although there is one assistant opening on the Sharks’ bench under first-year head coach Ryan Warsofsky. Ulmer, 47, had spent the last three seasons in the Canucks organization as an assistant in Abbotsford and was also a member of the Coyotes’ player development department from 2019 to 2021.