Summer Synopsis: Calgary Flames
Last season was a trajectory-altering one for the Calgary Flames, although not in the way they’d hoped. A major reshuffling of their top stars was expected to keep the Flames near the top of the Pacific Division, but they missed the playoffs entirely after a season mired by inconsistency. Multiple players underperformed, their goaltending tandem of Jacob Markström and Daniel Vladar struggled, and most players seemed to rejoice when the team moved on from head coach Darryl Sutter after the season. With Ryan Huska now behind the bench and Craig Conroy steering the ship as general manager, the Flames enter a truly pivotal 2023-24 campaign with multiple core players destined for free agency next summer.
Draft
1-16: F Samuel Honzek, Vancouver (WHL)
2-48: D Étienne Morin, Moncton (QMJHL)
3-80: F Aydar Suniev, Penticton (BCHL)
4-112: F Jaden Lipinski, Vancouver (WHL)
6-176: G Yegor Yegorov, Dynamo Moscow (MHL)
7-208: D Axel Hurtig, Rögle (J20 Nationell)
Without sensibly being able to buy at last season’s trade deadline, former GM Brad Treliving held on to their premier draft choices – a move that quickly paid off. While they aren’t franchise-altering talents, Honzek and Morin make up a high-end haul from the first two rounds and should yield a future everyday top-nine forward and top-six defender, respectively. Honzek is the class star here, but he’s expected to return to WHL Vancouver next season after posting 56 points in 43 games there last year in an injury-shortened campaign.
Morin was also a player who could very well have gone in the late first round, and he was one of, if not the best, defender available out of the QMJHL after recording 72 points and a +29 rating in 67 games with Moncton last season. Suniev, Lipinski and Yegorov round out a list of some high-risk, high-reward picks, while Hurtig projects as a hulking shutdown defender if he can manage a pro career.
Trade Acquisitions
F Yegor Sharangovich (from New Jersey)
While a dependable top-nine scorer, Sharangovich had a down year after a strong first two campaigns in New Jersey. The Devils’ 2018 fifth-round pick burst onto the scene in 2020-21, posting 16 goals and 30 points in 54 games (a 24-goal, 46-point pace over 82 games that he would replicate in 2021-22). His production, relative possession numbers and ice time all dipped last season, though, earning him a spot in the press box at times when the postseason rolled around. Slated for restricted free agency, the Devils had no issue moving on from him to acquire a short-term upgrade from Calgary in Tyler Toffoli. The Flames now have him locked into an affordable $3.1MM cap hit for the next two seasons, and they’re hoping by giving him a top-six role, he can get back to hovering around the 45-to-50-point mark and churn out another 20-goal campaign. He could potentially play as high as a first-line role alongside Elias Lindholm, replacing Toffoli’s spot in the lineup directly.
Key UFA Signings
F Dryden Hunt (two years, $1.55MM)*
D Jordan Oesterle (one year, $925K)
*-denotes two-way contract
After Treliving doled out a healthy amount of cash last summer, the Flames weren’t left with much space to work with. Even with just the two sub-$1MM cap hit signings, the Flames are currently $213K over the cap with a roster of 22 players, according to CapFriendly’s projections. The 31-year-old Oesterle is technically their biggest addition on the UFA market, and he’s far from a lock to play an everyday role, let alone make the team out of camp with their cap restraints. He’d spent the last two seasons in Detroit, where he’s recorded the worst possession metrics of his nine-year NHL career and averaged 15:39 per game last season in a decidedly depth role. It’s a long shot from his days with the Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks in the late 2010s when he looked like an option that could slide into the top four in a pinch. With Oliver Kylington ready to return to the team next season after taking 2022-23 off on personal leave, Oesterle will likely start the season as Calgary’s seventh defenseman.
Hunt will also battle to make the Flames roster in a 13th forward-type role. Last season was a rollercoaster for the 27-year-old, who played for the New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche and Toronto Maple Leafs in the span of just a few months after being claimed on waivers and then traded. Playing in 37 NHL games, he scored just three goals after posting 17 points in 76 games with the Rangers in 2021-22. He was traded yet another time at last season’s deadline to the Flames, playing out the rest of the season with their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. His 15 points in 17 games there were enough to warrant the team bringing him back after the UFA period opened.
Key RFA Re-Signings
F Walker Duehr (two years, $1.65MM)
F Yegor Sharangovich (two years, $6.2MM)
We’ve already covered Sharangovich’s impact on the team at length above, so Duehr gets our full attention regarding the Flames’ notable RFA signings this summer. Calgary signed the 6-foot-2 undrafted winger out of Minnesota State after his senior campaign ended in 2021, during which he recorded 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points in 28 games en route to a WCHA regular-season championship. He’s since shown the ability to translate his low-ceiling but effective checking game to the pro ranks, posting decent offensive totals in the minors with the Wranglers. He appeared in 27 games for the Flames last season in a bottom-six role, scoring seven goals in 27 games – a feat that’s likely earned him a spot on the team’s opening night roster come October. The 25-year-old would require waivers at this stage to be returned to the Wranglers.
Key Departures
F Trevor Lewis (Los Angeles, one year, $775K)
F Milan Lucic (Boston, one year, $1MM)
D Connor Mackey (NY Rangers, one year, $775K)
F Brett Ritchie (UFA)
F Nick Ritchie (UFA)
D Troy Stecher (Arizona, one year, $1.1MM)
D Michael Stone (retirement)
F Tyler Toffoli (trade with New Jersey)
The only extremely notable departure here is Toffoli, with whom the organization hopes they’ve replaced somewhat laterally with Sharangovich. If the latter doesn’t pan out, however, it will be a tough loss to swallow. Toffoli was their best player last season, leading the team with 34 goals and 73 points while posting high-end possession metrics and taking on 16:37 per game. There’s no other internal option ready to step up and replace that production without causing a domino effect on the team’s depth.
The rest on this list either played fourth-line or other depth roles for the majority of the season, while some (Nick Ritchie and Stecher) were only part of the team for a handful of games post-deadline and had a minimal effect on the team’s success as a whole last season. In Lucic and Lewis, though, they lose a couple of veterans with cup-winning pedigree, although their on-ice performance had withered in recent seasons to the point where they were maybe better served for press-box roles, especially in Lucic’s case.
Mackey and Stone move on after sitting near the high-end of the Flames’ “extra defensemen” list, although Stone will stay with the Flames in an off-ice capacity.
Salary Cap Outlook
Calgary will be cap-compliant to start the season, but it won’t be with a full roster, as we discussed earlier, per CapFriendly. As things stand, they’ll only have room for one extra skater (or none and one extra goalie should they opt to carry Dustin Wolf with the team to start the season). It means a corresponding move could very well be coming before the puck drops on the 2023-24 campaign, and teams need to turn in their cap-compliant rosters, but it’s not an absolute necessity. The Flames have no dead cap complicating things, either, unless they demote Kevin Rooney to the minors again – that will result in a buried penalty of $150K, given his $1.3MM cap hit.
Key Questions
Who Stays And Who Goes?: The slate of pending UFAs has been widely discussed at this point, especially the trio of Mikael Backlund, Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm. The team’s play over the first few months of the season will likely dictate which of those players are still team members after the 2024 trade deadline. There are some other important depth players on expiring deals like Christopher Tanev and Nikita Zadorov, too, who could command decent returns as rentals if the team doesn’t anticipate being able to re-sign them.
Who Takes Over In The Crease?: There’s no sugarcoating it – Jacob Markström had his worst season as a full-time starter last season after finishing second in Vezina Trophy voting the year prior, a remarkable falloff for the 33-year-old who’s halfway through a six-year, $6MM AAV deal. He barely crawled over the .500 mark, posting a 23-21-2 record, and had just a .892 save percentage and a lone shutout after leading the NHL with nine last season. If he can’t recapture his previous top-ten form, look for the Flames to turn to the young Wolf, who is still 22 years old but has won back-to-back AHL Goalie of the Year awards in his first two pro seasons.
Can The Young Guns Add Scoring Depth?: The Flames have a pair of wingers slated to start the season in bottom-six roles who could very well end up higher in the lineup by season’s end – Matthew Coronato and Jakob Pelletier. First-round picks in 2021 and 2019, respectively, Pelletier tore up the AHL with 37 points in 35 games last season but didn’t necessarily jump off the page in the NHL, recording seven points in 24 games. Coronato got just one game of action after turning pro after two seasons at Harvard, during which he recorded 36 points in 34 games in back-to-back campaigns.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Goalie Notes: Forsberg, Leinonen, Schwab
Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg is geared up for the upcoming training camp, telling The Athletic’s Ian Mendes he’s fully recovered from a double MCL tear sustained during a goalmouth collision in February.
“I’ve been back to 100 percent for a long time,” Forsberg told Mendes. “I would have been back last year if we made the playoffs.” He’ll be entering next season as part of what Ottawa hopes is a more fortified goalie tandem, with Joonas Korpisalo replacing Cam Talbot as Forsberg’s partner in the crease. Forsberg has given Ottawa some solid play since once again breaking out as a full-time NHLer in Canada’s capital, accumulating a 33-28-6 record, .912 save percentage, 2.98 goals-against average, and three shutouts over the past two seasons. He says he can return to that level of play, as he told Mendes he doesn’t feel any lingering effects from the major knee injuries – a remarkable statement given they occurred just six months ago. If he can maintain the solid numbers and challenge Korpisalo for the lion’s share of the starts, Ottawa does have a true shot at breaking through into the postseason for the first time since losing in the 2017 Eastern Conference Final.
Some other goalie-related items of interest:
- Buffalo Sabres goalie prospect Topias Leinonen will miss the beginning of 2023-24 due to injury, The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski relays. Buffalo selected the massive 6-foot-5, 234-pound netminder in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft, but he struggled last season with just a .885 save percentage in the Finnish junior circuit. He’ll miss around the first two months of the Liiga season, although he’s expected to take on a backup role for JYP once he returns.
- The Arizona Coyotes have confirmed the last of their remaining extensions for their assistant coaches, signing goalie coach Corey Schwab to a multi-year deal. Schwab is one of the Coyotes’ longest-tenured organizational members at this point, serving with the team as a coach in some capacity since 2015. While the team hasn’t had much success during his tenure, goaltending has been far from an issue – names like Adin Hill, Darcy Kuemper, Antti Raanta, and Karel Vejmelka have all churned out solid performances under Schwab’s tutelage.
Edmonton Oilers Sign Sam Gagner To PTO
The Edmonton Oilers are open to bringing veteran forward Sam Gagner back for a third stint with the team, as they’ve signed him to a professional tryout today. The team also confirmed the previously reported PTO for center Brandon Sutter, who’s missed the last two seasons with long COVID symptoms.
Gagner, 34, is not the player the Oilers envisioned they were getting when they selected him sixth overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. However, he remains a serviceable 13th forward on his worst day and a consistent bottom-six presence on his best. He played last season in a Winnipeg Jets uniform, missing the last few weeks of the 2022-23 season due to a hip injury. He managed to get into 48 games while playing a solid leadership role, however, recording eight goals and 14 points while posting quite advantageous possession metrics, something he’s done routinely over the years despite playing on some subpar teams – he’s made the playoffs just twice in his 16-year, 1,015-game career.
He was coming off a solid campaign with the Detroit Red Wings in 2021-22, playing in 81 of 82 games whilst recording 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points. He’s been a solid bet for somewhere between 30 and 45 points through most of his career. At this stage, that’s not likely (especially given the limited bottom-six role he might play in Edmonton), but he is a dependable presence who’s managed to consistently avoid being a liability.
The Oilers’ biggest question mark regarding roster construction lies at the fourth-line center spot, which is quickly becoming rather obvious by signing a pair of candidates for the position to PTOs. There’s also Lane Pederson in the mix for the job, who they signed to a two-year, league-minimum one-way deal on July 1. AHL veteran Brad Malone, who recorded 21 points in 41 games with the Bakersfield Condors last season, could make a run for a full-time NHL role for the first time since 2015-16 as well.
Gagner will need to make himself known during training camp, then, as it’s evident space is limited on the Oilers’ roster, and they’re keeping their options open for the few spots that do remain. However, a cursory look labels him as the best option for the job, and there’s a level of familiarity between him, the Oilers, and GM Ken Holland that could play to his advantage
Golden Knights Prospect Arttu Kärki Commits To OHL’s Soo Greyhounds
Vegas Golden Knights defense prospect Arttu Kärki has signed an OHL Scholarship and Development Agreement with the Soo Greyhounds, bringing him to North America for the 2023-24 season. The Greyhounds selected Kärki with their first-round pick in the 2023 CHL Import Draft.
Kärki, 18, went off the board to Vegas with the final pick of the third round (96th overall) in this summer’s NHL Draft. A high-end offensive-minded defender in the Finnish junior circuit, Kärki confirms his move to North America just a day before OHL training camps begin.
Hailing from Viiala, Finland, the 6-foot-2, 176-pound defenseman recorded 13 goals and 26 assists for 39 points in 36 regular-season games with Tappara U20 of the U20 SM-sarja Finnish league. He led his team’s defensemen in goals and finished second in goals from defensemen in the entire league.
Vegas took Kärki around where most public scouts expected him to go. They haven’t signed him to an entry-level contract yet, and since he was drafted out of Finland (not the CHL), they have four years to sign him before letting his exclusive signing rights expire.
That said, Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis is quite high on Kärki and expects the transition to North American major junior hockey to be a positive thing for his development. “Arttu has all the tools of an elite defenseman,” Raftis said. “His size, skating ability, and high-end puck skills make him a threat all over the ice.”
The Greyhounds currently have three other NHL-drafted prospects expected to suit up for them next season: Detroit Red Wings defenseman Andrew Gibson, Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kirill Kudryavtsev and New York Rangers center Bryce McConnell-Barker.
Buffalo Sabres Name Terry Pegula Team President
The Buffalo Sabres are the second team this morning to announce significant front-office restructuring, confirming that team owner Terry Pegula is stepping into the role of president.
The Sabres say this shift enables Pegula to collaborate more closely with team COO John Roth, who leads the team’s business aspects, and general manager Kevyn Adams, who spearheads the team’s hockey operations. In doing so, the team’s overarching ownership organization, Pegula Sports and Entertainment, is separating its resources between the Sabres and the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, which Pegula, along with his wife, Kim, also owns.
“We are thankful for the work and effort so many individuals have put into PSE over the years, but feel it is the right time for them to return home to separate organizations,” Pegula said. “We feel that now is the right time to dissolve PSE and allow everyone to focus solely on their respective organization. It is a great time to be a Buffalo sports fan, and we have a tremendous amount of confidence that this restructuring will allow our businesses to continue to elevate with our teams.”
It’s a move that appears strategically aimed to allow for more specialized focus on the Bills and Sabres as both teams enter what they hope are lengthy periods of championship contention. The Sabres are aiming at their first playoff appearance in 13 years this season and will do so on the back of a young core with more impressive prospects on the way.
This could mean Pegula is taking a more influential role in the team’s hockey operations decisions, something he’s already been rather heavily involved with. It’s an arrangement Adams evidently feels comfortable with as GM, but it can be a rather tricky environment for some to navigate as opposed to a team’s owner giving their hockey operations department full autonomy.
Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Simon Benoit
The Toronto Maple Leafs have added some defensive depth, signing Simon Benoit to a one-year contract worth $775K, per a team announcement.
Benoit, 24, heads to Canada’s largest city after spending all five seasons of his pro career in the Anaheim Ducks organization. He skated in a career-high 78 games last season with the Ducks, forced into a top-four role on a paper-thin defense. He did notch three goals and seven assists for ten points while averaging 19:21 per game, but his -29 rating and 41.4 Corsi For percentage at even strength were expectedly unimpressive.
That’s not to say the 6-foot-3, 203-pound left-shot defender can’t be effective at the NHL level. He posted a much better analytical profile and possession metrics in a more limited role in 2021-22, which saw him skate in 53 games with the Ducks but averaging under 15 minutes per game. That being said, Anaheim simply didn’t envision Benoit as a part of their long-term plans as a depth defender considering the wave of higher-ceiling prospects they have on the way. Slated to be a restricted free agent this summer after signing a one-year extension with the Ducks in 2022, he was not extended a qualifying offer and hit the UFA market on July 1.
In 137 career NHL games with the Ducks, Benoit has four goals, 11 assists and 15 points. The Laval, Quebec product joined the Ducks organization on an AHL contract signed with the San Diego Gulls before the 2018-19 campaign after going undrafted by an NHL team. His junior stats were admittedly unimpressive, but he quickly showed in the minors that he could be a capable defensive presence at the pro level, earning an entry-level contract from the Ducks after his rookie season in San Diego.
However, it’s no guarantee Benoit can crack the Leafs’ roster out of training camp, especially given their salary cap crunch. It’s hard to envision him winning a spot in the opening night lineup ahead of their currently projected bottom pair of Mark Giordano and Timothy Liljegren, although his league-minimum cap hit does make him an appealing option for a seventh defenseman – if they can afford it. He would need to clear waivers to be assigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, which is not guaranteed after he shouldered heavy NHL minutes last season and is on an affordable one-year deal.
Washington Capitals Announce Front Office Restructuring
The Washington Capitals have unveiled a reshuffle in their leadership hierarchy ahead of the 2023-24 season, with general manager Brian MacLellan adding president of hockey operations to his job title. They’ve also promoted Chris Patrick to associate general manager and appointed Dick Patrick as chairman.
MacLellan’s affiliation with the Capitals now enters its 23rd year, having joined the organization in various capacities since his arrival in 2000. He’s been at his current post of GM since 2014, during which time he’s also served as the team’s senior VP of hockey operations. Since taking over as GM, the team has amassed a record of 409-213-77, boasting a .640 winning percentage that ranks third only behind the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning. Washington didn’t have a dedicated president of hockey operations last season, meaning job titles are being shuffled around among the team’s upper management before the upcoming season begins.
His significance to the Capitals cannot be understated, and he’s a lock to receive high honors from the organization whenever he does step away from the game. He built a good portion of the team that won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2018, with eight of the 19 players on the ice during the series-clinching Game 5 of the Final against the Vegas Golden Knights signed, traded for, or drafted under his direction.
Chris Patrick is also a longtime fixture in Washington’s front office, now entering his 16th year with the team. He’d previously served as an assistant general manager to MacLellan with a specialty in player personnel, a promotion that came just two years ago. Now he’s been promoted again, and his new role as an associate will take a considerable load off MacLellan as the latter shoulders more wide-ranging responsibilities in his presidential role. Patrick will now oversee the team’s analytics department, player contract negotiations, hockey operations staff, player personnel, budget, and team scheduling issues, per the team. He’ll be tasked with more impactful decisions as the team enters quite a tricky retooling phase, and it seems apparent Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has identified him as a potential candidate to replace MacLellan as general manager when he eventually steps away.
Dick Patrick bears no relation to Chris, but he is the grandson of NHL forefather Lester Patrick. He’s held an active role in the sport for as long as his grandfather, serving as the Capitals’ president for 40 years – he assumed the role in 1982. The 77-year-old will now take on a bigger-picture role, likely passing on some of his former day-to-day responsibilities to MacLellan. Patrick had also served as the COO for Leonsis’ Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which also owns the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. His role will now be solely focused on the Capitals. In Patrick’s 40 seasons as president, the Capitals only missed the playoffs eight times.
Notable Former NHLers Playing In The SHL Next Year
As overseas campaigns get ready to kick off at the beginning of next month, we’ll highlight some notable former NHLers suiting up for teams in major European leagues over the next few days. First up is the Swedish Hockey League, which sees a new face this year in Örnsköldsvik’s MoDo Hockey, which earned promotion from the second-tier Allsvenskan to play in the top flight for the first time since 2016.
D Christian Folin – Frölunda HC
Suiting up as an alternate captain for Frölunda this season, the 32-year-old Folin has two years remaining on a deal with the club he signed in 2021. A veteran of 244 NHL games, the left-shot defender most recently suited up for 16 games with the Montreal Canadiens in the 2019-20 campaign. His career-best season came with the Los Angeles Kings in 2017-18, the second of three consecutive seasons he managed to avoid AHL assignment. In 65 games, Folin recorded average possession numbers and finished the year with three goals and ten assists for 13 points. He appeared in all four playoff games as his Kings lost to the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in a first-round sweep. Since returning to his home country, the two-way defender has represented Sweden internationally at the World Championship and Winter Olympics, although his offensive game is beginning to decline. He recorded just seven assists in 37 games for Frölunda in 2022-23.
F Oscar Lindberg – Skellefteå AIK
Lindberg has played overseas for the past four seasons, but only in Russia and Switzerland. 2023-24 will be his first time playing in the Swedish top flight since 2013, and he’s doing so with the only SHL club he’s ever known in Skellefteå. Initially a second-round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in 2010, Lindberg saw 134 out of his 252 games of NHL action in a New York Rangers uniform after he was sent there in a 2011 swap of prospects. Now 31, Lindberg recorded a career-high 13 goals and 28 points in 68 games during his rookie season with New York in 2015-16, but he never quite displayed the ability to become a long-term top-nine fixture in the NHL. He made later career stops with the Golden Knights and Ottawa Senators before leaving for Switzerland’s EV Zug after the conclusion of the 2018-19 season.
F Magnus Pääjärvi – Timrå IK
The most NHL-seasoned forward on this list, Pääjärvi will play a depth role in helping Timrå avoid relegation to the Allsvenskan for a third straight season after getting promoted in 2021. Pääjärvi also played his last NHL game with Ottawa in 2019, much like Lindberg, although he’d been in the league since the start of the decade. Now 32, Pääjärvi was the tenth overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, going off the board to the Edmonton Oilers. It looked like a solid selection at first – he rattled off 34 points in 80 games during his rookie season as a 19-year-old in 2010-11 on a struggling Oilers squad. However, he wouldn’t put up double-digit goal totals again until his final season in the NHL with Ottawa, instead bouncing around the Oilers, Blues and Senators as a depth forward in a fourth-line role over nearly a decade. He did appear in a very respectable 467 NHL contests before heading overseas in 2019 with the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, however. He hasn’t been a huge offensive factor since returning to Europe, recording just seven goals and 13 points in 40 games for Timrå last season.
F Tobias Rieder – Växjö Lakers HC
This will be Rieder’s third consecutive year suiting up for Växjö after he departed the NHL for Sweden in 2021. It’s been a fruitful tenure for the German-born forward, as he’s put up double-digit goal totals in both seasons and won an SHL title in 2022-23. Once a promising middle-six talent with the Arizona Coyotes in the mid-2010s, things went off the rails for Rieder after signing as a free agent with the Edmonton Oilers in 2018. Viewed as a surefire bet for at least around 15 goals and 30 points, Rieder instead put up a goose egg in the goal column despite playing in 67 games. Later tenures with the Buffalo Sabres and Calgary Flames went similarly poor, and the 30-year-old will likely play the rest of his career overseas.
D Anton Strålman – HV71
Strålman is returning home to Sweden after spending last season in the Boston Bruins organization. He played just eight games in the NHL, however, instead being relegated to the AHL’s Providence Bruins for most of 2022-23 after earning a contract off a PTO. The 37-year-old is likely done in the NHL after quite a respectable 938-game, 16-season career, but he’ll look to log heavy minutes for HV71 and try and rediscover his offensive touch against some easier competition. It’s a nice bookend for Strålman, who was once one of the better complementary defenders in the game and played against tough competition as a premier two-way defender for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the mid-to-late 2010s.
Honorable Mentions: F Henrik Borgström (HV71), D Brandon Davidson (Rögle), F Christoffer Ehn (Linköping), F Remi Elie (Linköping), G Jhonas Enroth (Örebro), D Oscar Fantenberg (Linköping), F Janne Kuokkanen (Malmö), F Anton Lander (Timrå), F Pär Lindholm (Skellefteå), F Alan Quine (Malmö), D David Rundblad (MoDo), D Joakim Ryan (Malmö), F Mattias Tedenby (HV71)
Bruins Notes: Top Six, Chiasson, Frederic, Assistant Coach Vacancy
Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery sat down for an interview with Steve Conroy of The Boston Herald that was published early this morning, being quite forthcoming about quite a few subjects of note for Bruins fans. Perhaps most impactful, at least in the short term, was that Montgomery has essentially decided what the team’s first and second forward lines will look like entering the season.
It’s no easy task – the team’s loss of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci has been their biggest story of the offseason, along with other solid complementary scorers such as last year’s trade deadline acquisition, Tyler Bertuzzi. Montgomery believes “everything else is going to be a work in progress” as training camp plays out, but he expects to spread out the team’s two remaining stars, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, on different lines. He plans on keeping the duo of Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha together, a partnership that helped elevate the 26-year-old Zacha to a career-high 21 goals and 57 points last season. They’ll likely be flanked by veteran free agent signing James van Riemsdyk on the left wing. Marchand, on the other hand, will lead the team’s de facto second line with Charlie Coyle at center and Jake DeBrusk at right wing.
Other thoughts on the Bruins from Montgomery:
- Alex Chiasson may be a member of the Bruins on a tryout basis only, but it seems Montgomery has already penciled in the 32-year-old as a net-front presence on the team’s second power-play unit. “I thought Detroit’s power play became extremely tough to check the last two times we played them when he was at the net front,” Montgomery told Conroy. “So there’s a niche that he could possibly grab a hold of for our team.” Chiasson landed an NHL contract with Detroit at last season’s trade deadline after spending the year on an AHL contract with their affiliate in Grand Rapids. He recorded six goals and nine points in 20 games down the stretch of the regular season, with seven of those nine points coming on the power play.
- Montgomery also doesn’t anticipate moving forward Trent Frederic to center as some anticipated, instead keeping him on the right wing. He believes Frederic’s two-way game is most effective on the wing, and they’ll need him to contribute as much as he can in a bottom-six secondary role. That means free agent signing Morgan Geekie could be in line to assume the team’s third-line center role behind Zacha and Coyle after averaging just 10:27 per game for the Seattle Kraken last season.
- Lastly, Montgomery confirmed the team plans to replace former assistant coach John Gruden before the season starts, although in a different role. Gruden left after just one season with the Bruins to serve as head coach for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies next season. Gruden’s previous responsibilities, managing the defense and the penalty kill, will be delegated to the Bruins’ remaining two assistants, Chris Kelly and Joe Sacco. Montgomery says the team’s hire to replace Gruden will be more development-focused and won’t be on the bench during games.
Minor Transactions: 08/27/23
Things may be awfully slow on the NHL news front today, but there are still a few transactions from other leagues worth mentioning. Here’s a listing of notable minor transactions for August 27, 2023:
- Former New York Rangers forward prospect Jake Elmer has found a home for next season, signing a one-year deal in Scotland with the Dundee Stars of the EIHL. Elmer, 24, signed an entry-level deal with New York in 2019 out of the WHL after going undrafted, a contract he spent most of in the ECHL before going unqualified upon expiration in 2022. He spent most of last season in Slovakia with Extraliga club HK Nitra, where he recorded nine goals, seven assists and 16 points in 29 games. It was a tough transition to the North American pro circuit for Elmer, who lit up the WHL in his final season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, scoring 81 points in 68 games.
This page will be updated throughout the day.