West Notes: Byram, Flames, Coyotes
The Colorado Avalanche are in for a tumultuous offseason. The team has just five forwards on the NHL roster under contract for 2023-24, and most of their pending free agents are unrestricted.
One of the few players needing a new contract under team control, however, is promising young defender Bowen Byram. In his latest for The Athletic, Peter Baugh outlined what the 21-year-old’s next contract could look like, given Byram’s stellar play in limited NHL action due to frequent injuries.
The most expensive comparable listed for Byram is the only in-house one in Baugh’s article – Samuel Girard, who signed a seven-year, $5MM average annual value contract extension after just two NHL seasons. The deal’s been met with mixed results, with injury issues of his own leading Girard’s play to become inconsistent in the past few seasons. But the rest of Baugh’s list, which includes players such as Noah Dobson, Vince Dunn, Adam Boqvist, and Travis Sanheim, indicates a two-to-three-year deal in the $3MM-$4MM range is more likely based on past signings.
- With their upper management set in stone, expect the Calgary Flames’ focus to immediately shift to hiring a new head coach, says TSN’s Darren Dreger. The Flames haven’t seen their name pop up in coaching rumors as much as other teams on the market, but their focus, up until last weekend, was restricted to naming their next general manager. Now that the hires of Craig Conroy and Dave Nonis are expected to be made official today, Calgary’s name will start coming up in connection to potential coaching candidates.
- If the Arizona Coyotes can’t make their reported secondary arena plan in Mesa come to fruition, PHNX Sports’ Greg Esposito says the team’s backup-backup plan could come in the form of Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who expressed interest in participating in discussions if the Coyotes were put up for sale. It’s likely the last remaining avenue that would keep the Coyotes in the region, although for now, it would put them back in the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix that contains thousands of obstructed view seats for hockey.
Latest On The Pittsburgh Penguins’ GM Search
Teams are quickly beginning to fill their coaching and managing vacancies which opened at the end of the season. The Calgary Flames are one of them, expected to name Craig Conroy their next general manager tomorrow, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are one team yet to make a hire.
They’re getting closer, however, and The Athletic’s Rob Rossi doubled down and added to a report over the weekend from TSN’s Pierre LeBrun on Pittsburgh’s preferred candidates for a general manager (and potentially president of hockey operations) role.
One name the team appears to be zeroing in on is Carolina Hurricanes assistant general manager Eric Tulsky, who Rossi says has impressed the members of Pittsburgh’s ownership, Fenway Sports Group. He’s certainly the most progressive hire available for Pittsburgh, as he’s one of the most reliant on analytics among managers in high-ranking roles.
Another name that Rossi expands on is Kyle Dubas, who’s been reported multiple times over the past few days as having been granted permission to speak with Pittsburgh after being fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs last week. Rossi notes that he still may play into Pittsburgh’s final decision despite becoming available late in the process and could potentially be brought in as a president of hockey operations alongside Tulsky, who could still be named general manager.
The Penguins could also hire a third name, per Rossi, although it hasn’t quite been clearly defined. The third hire could serve as a communicator between hockey operations and ownership, and Rossi says the team is considering broadcaster (and former Penguins coach) Eddie Olczyk for the role.
Rossi also relayed a quote from Penguins alternate governor Dave Beeston that there’s still no set timetable for making new hires.
Slovenia, Hungary Relegated From Worlds For 2024
It’s always a great story seeing countries work their way up from lower levels of international competition to gain the privilege of playing at the Men’s World Championship, something Poland and Great Britain have already earned the right to do so in 2024. Unfortunately, that involves relegation from teams in the current pool. Now that Slovenia and Hungary have clinched last-place finishes in their groups, they’ll be headed back to D1A, the second tier of the IIHF Men’s Worlds, for 2024.
They’ll join Italy, South Korea, and Romania in next year’s D1A tournament as both teams will try and earn re-promotion to the top level of competition for 2025. They’ll also be joined by Japan, who won promotion in the D1B tournament this year.
Slovenia is no stranger to this process. They bounced up and down between the D1A and top-tier play every year between 2010 and 2017 before failing to earn promotion from the D1A tournament in 2018 and 2019. With COVID pausing relegation (and canceling the next two D1A tournaments altogether), this was Slovenia’s first appearance with the top group in six years.
For the first time since 2008, though, Slovenia failed to secure a single point at the Worlds, losing all seven of their round-robin games in regulation. They had a 3-2 lead against Kazakhstan with 10 minutes left in today’s game, but the Kazakhs scored twice in five minutes to take the regulation win.
Former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Jan Drozg tied for the Slovak lead in scoring at the tournament with three goals in seven games.
For Hungary, it was a tougher pill to swallow. They lost a do-or-die game against Austria today in a shootout, which, had they won, would have relegated Austria instead. The two teams ended up tied with a 0-5-1-1 record, but Hungary lost the goal differential tiebreaker by nine thanks to three 7-1 blowouts at the hands of the Americans, Swedes, and Finns.
Snapshots: Reynolds, Andersen, Vegas Goalies
Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch is reporting this morning that actor Ryan Reynolds has officially pulled himself out of the running to own a stake in the Ottawa Senators, per sources. Reynolds, who had aligned himself with Canadian developer Chris Bratty and the Remington Group, intended not to join other bids at the beginning of the sale process and has held true to his initial position, despite offers from groups still in the running to join their bids.
Garrioch also reports that Michael Andlauer, a minority owner of the Montreal Canadiens and one of the four bidders remaining under consideration to purchase the team, remains “confident” he’ll be the party anointed by the team and the league as Ottawa’s next owner. Two other bids were also receiving “serious consideration,” per Garrioch, but one name notably not mentioned was Neko Sparks, the Los Angeles-based investor whose bid includes backing from Snoop Dogg and the Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg First Nations group.
- After he was given the night off for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final, thanks to Game 1 stretching well into the fourth overtime period, the Carolina Hurricanes are returning to Frederik Andersen tonight, per TVA’s Renaud Lavoie, to help them climb out of a 2-0 series hole against the Florida Panthers. His .936 save percentage leads all netminders in the playoffs, but unfortunately, the only goalie who’s played better than he, Sergei Bobrovsky, is in the opposing crease.
- Laurent Brossoit and Logan Thompson will remain out of the Vegas Golden Knights goalie rotation for Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference Final, as head coach Bruce Cassidy today confirmed they won’t travel with the team to Dallas. While Brossoit wasn’t expected to play at all in this series, Thompson is working his way back from a lower-body injury that’s cost him the last few months and was potentially an option for the team. Adin Hill, who now boasts a .930 save percentage in seven playoff appearances, will continue in the starter’s net for Vegas.
Minor Transactions: 05/22/23
It’s been a rough past few days if you’re a Carolina Hurricanes or Dallas Stars fan. Save for some epic comebacks, the NHL is careening down the path toward a Vegas Golden Knights/Florida Panthers Stanley Cup Final. In the meantime, though, we continue to provide some coverage of notable moves outside the league, bringing a recap of some of the day’s most notable non-NHL transactions.
- DEL club ERC Ingolstadt, who finished second in the league and lost in the championship series, is saying goodbye to two overseas players who were crucial on their playoff run. American forward Stefan Matteau and Canadian forward Ty Ronning will not be returning to the team next season, with Matteau’s future pro career in doubt and Ronning looking to head elsewhere. Ronning, a former New York Rangers prospect, had 21 points in 29 games with Ingolstadt after terminating his AHL deal with the Iowa Wild mid-season. Matteau, a 2012 first-round selection who last played in the NHL for Colorado in 2021-22, had 28 points in 35 games after a mid-season transfer from the SHL’s Linköping HC.
- Former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Dominik Uher, now a DEL mainstay with the Fischtown Penguins, has inked a one-year extension with the club. The 30-year-old, selected in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL Draft, got into two NHL games with the Penguins in 2014-15 but had left for Europe by 2016. Since joining Fischtown in 2018-19, he’s recorded 96 points in 216 games for the club.
- After a six-game stint at the end of the season, defenseman Roman Kinal has signed a one-year extension with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. Kinal, 24, just wrapped up a five-season career at the University of Connecticut, where he served as captain in his final season and tied his career-high seven points.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Latest On Doug Armstrong
As soon as the Toronto Maple Leafs said general manager Kyle Dubas wouldn’t be returning next season, speculation ran rampant surrounding their next general manager. Peculiarly, one of the names that popped up in some circles was current St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong.
This morning, Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland put an end to that speculation, reporting Armstrong does not have an out clause in his contract with the Blues that would allow him to take a job elsewhere. As Strickland notes, Armstrong has three seasons remaining on his deal with St. Louis.
When David Poile retires from his post with the Nashville Predators on June 30, Armstrong will become the longest-tenured general manager in the NHL. He was promoted to the role ahead of the 2010-11 season after serving two seasons as the team’s director of player personnel.
Since then, Armstrong has become one of the more heralded managers in the league, constructing the first Stanley Cup-winning roster in franchise history. A recent stretch of middling play from the Blues hasn’t seemed to dip Armstrong’s reputation all that much, either.
He may have made some questionable contract choices recently, namely a four-year, $16MM extension for Nick Leddy with trade protection, but he’s also made some shrewd trades and waiver claims that have the Blues in a good spot to retool instead of rebuild.
Undoubtedly, he and the Blues both want him at the helm for a potentially franchise-altering 2023 NHL Draft, where the Blues have three picks in the first round.
For Toronto, their GM search remains wide open, without many confirmed candidates on their search list.
List Of NHL Prospects Attending 2023 Memorial Cup
After the OHL’s Peterborough Petes and the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts took home their respective league championships yesterday, the field for the 2023 Memorial Cup is set. They’ll be joined by two WHL teams – the league champion Seattle Thunderbirds and the host team Kamloops Blazers – on their quest to capture the pinnacle of North American junior hockey.
Pitting best against best at the U21 level from across the continent, the tournament also gives NHL-drafted prospects an early taste of high-pressure hockey on a larger stage than regular junior play. If you’re looking to see your favorite team’s prospects have big performances at this tournament, which runs from May 26 to June 4, we’re providing a comprehensive list of NHL-affiliated prospects attending the tournament.
There will be a new champion this year after last year’s winner, the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs, lost to the Gatineau Olympiques in five games in their first-round series in the QMJHL playoffs. Chicago and Dallas lead the way with three representatives at the tournament, while nine teams (Boston, Colorado, Detroit, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, San Jose, and Tampa Bay) don’t have any prospects playing this year.
Anaheim Ducks
C Nathan Gaucher (Québec, 2022 22nd overall)
LD Olen Zellweger (Kamloops, 2021 34th overall)
Arizona Coyotes
RW Dylan Guenther (Seattle, 2021 9th overall)
LD Jérémy Langlois (Québec, 2022 94th overall)
Boston Bruins
none
Buffalo Sabres
RD Vsevolod Komarov (Québec, 2022 134th overall)
Calgary Flames
LW Lucas Ciona (Seattle, 2021 173rd overall)
Carolina Hurricanes
C Justin Robidas (Québec, 2021 147th overall)
Chicago Blackhawks
LD Kevin Korchinski (Seattle, 2022 7th overall)
LD Nolan Allan (Seattle, 2021 32nd overall)
C Colton Dach (Seattle, 2021 62nd overall)
Colorado Avalanche
none
Columbus Blue Jackets
LW James Malatesta (Québec, 2021 133rd overall)
Dallas Stars
C Logan Stankoven (Kamloops, 2021 47th overall)
RD Gavin White (Peterborough, 2022 115th overall)
RW Matthew Seminoff (Kamloops, 2022 179th overall)
Detroit Red Wings
none
Edmonton Oilers
none
Florida Panthers
LD Evan Nause (Québec, 2021 56th overall)
Los Angeles Kings
none
Minnesota Wild
C Caedan Bankier (Kamloops, 2021 86th overall)
RD Kyle Masters (Kamloops, 2021 118th overall)
Montreal Canadiens
C Owen Beck (Peterborough, 2022 33rd overall)
C Jared Davidson (Seattle, 2022 130th overall)
Nashville Predators
LW Reid Schaefer (Seattle, 2022 32nd overall)
RD Luke Prokop (Seattle, 2020 73rd overall)
New Jersey Devils
RW Chase Stillman (Peterborough, 2021 29th overall)
New York Islanders
LW Daylan Kuefler (Kamloops, 2022 174th overall)
New York Rangers
LW Brennan Othmann (Peterborough, 2021 16th overall)
Ottawa Senators
none
Philadelphia Flyers
LD Brian Zanetti (Peterborough, 2021 110th overall)
C Jon-Randall Avon (Peterborough, undrafted)
Pittsburgh Penguins
none
San Jose Sharks
none
Seattle Kraken
C Tucker Robertson (Peterborough, 2022 123rd overall)
St. Louis Blues
C Zachary Bolduc (Québec, 2021 17th overall)
Tampa Bay Lightning
none
Toronto Maple Leafs
C Fraser Minten (Kamloops, 2022 38th overall)
Vancouver Canucks
C Connor Lockhart (Peterborough, 2021 178th overall)
Vegas Golden Knights
C Jordan Gustafson (Seattle, 2022 79th overall)
RW Jakub Demek (Kamloops, 2021 128th overall)
Washington Capitals
C Ryan Hofer (Kamloops, 2022 181st overall)
Winnipeg Jets
C Brad Lambert (Seattle, 2022 30th overall)
Buffalo Sabres Assign Matthew Savoie To AHL
One of the Buffalo Sabres’ best prospects will get his first taste of professional hockey. The team reassigned forward Matthew Savoie to the AHL’s Rochester Americans today, and he will join them ahead of their Eastern Conference Final series against the Hershey Bears.
Selected ninth overall in 2022, the speedy, well-rounded forward slipped a few spots south of where most public scouts anticipated. Other teams’ loss was Buffalo’s gain, as Savoie posted another strong season with the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice in his post-draft year and didn’t look entirely out of place with the Sabres during training camp last fall.
After helping guide the Ice to the WHL’s championship series with 29 points in 19 playoff games, eventually losing to the Seattle Thunderbirds, Savoie now joins another high-pressure environment in Rochester. The Americans are among the final four AHL teams left standing after sweeping the Toronto Marlies in three games in the North Division Final.
Could it be a precursor to Savoie earning a spot with Buffalo out of camp next season? Definitely, if at least on a nine-game trial before he would need to return to Winnipeg for a final season of junior hockey.
IIHF Suspends Joe Veleno For Remainder Of World Championship
The IIHF today suspended Team Canada and Detroit Red Wings forward Joe Veleno for five World Championship games, effectively ending his tournament. The suspension comes in response to Veleno appearing to intentionally step on the lower leg of Switzerland forward Nino Niederreiter during a puck battle in yesterday’s 3-2 win for the Swiss.
Veleno avoided a penalty on the play, and Niederreiter actually received a minor penalty for roughing Veleno later on in the sequence. Upon review, however, the IIHF undoubtedly made the right call, removing Veleno from the remainder of the tournament after one of the more dangerous plays in international hockey in recent memory.
It is a significant loss for Canada, which now sits third in Group B after the regulation loss. Veleno was second on the team in scoring, with two goals and three assists in five games.
Veleno, Detroit’s 30th overall selection in the 2018 NHL Draft, is a restricted free agent this offseason after the conclusion of his entry-level contract. He posted a career-high nine goals and 20 points in 81 games for the Red Wings this season.
Minor Transactions: 05/21/23
The Conference Finals continue today after the Florida Panthers improbably jumped out to a 2-0 series lead against the Carolina Hurricanes, thanks to back-to-back overtime winners from Matthew Tkachuk. While most of the hockey world will remain laser-focused on that, as well as the Western series between Vegas and Dallas, there are other leagues worth checking on too. As always, we’ll keep track of any notable minor transactions throughout the hockey world today, right here:
- Former Phoenix Coyote and US Olympic captain Andy Miele is on the move overseas, joining the DEL’s Grizzlys Wolfsburg for 2023-24. Miele, 35, has become a fixture in Europe after a lengthy AHL career in the Coyotes, Red Wings, and Flyers organizations. After recording four points in four appearances for the US at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Miele joined SHL club HV71 for the 2022-23 campaign, registering 36 points in 51 games. He now ventures into Germany for the first time in his pro career.
This page will be updated throughout the day