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Maple Leafs Notes: Berube, Lalonde, Salary

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After the Toronto Maple Leafs fired assistant coach Marc Savard on Monday, many began to speculate that head coach Craig Berube may be on the chopping block as well. Speaking with the media yesterday, Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving put those rumors to bed.

According to TSN’s Chris Johnston, when asked about Berube’s future in Toronto, Treliving said, “I want to make it clear. I support Craig fully.” Still, knowing the pressure the Maple Leafs face consistently, things can change relatively quickly in Toronto. Berube is 68-41-9 (61.4% win percentage) as the Maple Leafs’ head coach, but the team has fallen five points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and is in 23rd place in the league standings.

If Berube stays, it won’t be because the Maple Leafs didn’t have any external options, either. The recent head coach of the Dallas Stars, Peter DeBoer, is still seeking a new job and may jump at the chance to guide an Original Six franchise. Since the 2011-12 season, with four different teams, DeBoer has coached his team to eight Conference Final appearances and two in the Stanley Cup Final. However, he has yet to coach a team to the sport’s highest glory.

Additional notes from the Maple Leafs:

  • Now that Savard has exited the organization, the Maple Leafs needed a coach to take over the team’s power play, which is last in the league with a 13.04% success rate. Reporting from Treliving’s media availability, Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun shared that Derek Lalonde will be tasked with that duty. During his time as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, the team was one of the best with the man advantage, though much of that rested on the shoulders of Lalonde’s assistant coach at the time, Alex Tanguay.
  • When it comes to how the team will approach the other half of the regular season, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period suggested that the Maple Leafs could look to move out some money. Pagnotta listed players such as Max Domi, Brandon Carlo, and Matias Maccelli as obvious candidates to be on the move. Still, given that Treliving shared that the team was not ready to punt on the 2025-26 campaign, it’s unlikely that the Maple Leafs are going to make many subtractions from their roster.

Hurricanes Reportedly Tried To Swap Kotkaniemi For Danault

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In a recent episode of Oilersnation Everyday, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported on a recent trade that didn’t go through. Pagnotta suggested that before ultimately dealing him to the Montreal Canadiens, the Los Angeles Kings had conversations regarding Phillip Danault with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Even more fascinating about Pagnotta’s report is that the Hurricanes wanted to include former third-overall pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the package for Danault. The Kings were reportedly less turned off by Kotkaniemi’s $4.82MM salary than they were by the five years remaining on his contract.

Presently, the savings would have been negligible at best. Kotkaniemi is earning roughly $680K less than Danault for this year and next, which wouldn’t even have been enough for Los Angeles to recall another player making the league minimum salary if they needed. Additionally, since Kotkaniemi’s contract runs three years longer than Danault’s, the Kings would have added around $14.5MM in future costs.

There isn’t much separation in their offensive contributions either, despite Danault’s disappointing start to the year. Kotkaniemi has two goals and six points in 20 games for the Hurricanes this season, whereas Danault registered five assists in 30 games before the trade. Furthermore, Danault has the edge in faceoff percentage and on-ice save percentage at even strength, which are critical metrics for supposed middle-six centers.

All that suggests that the Hurricanes were merely looking to include Kotkaniemi in what would have been a larger package. Carolina doesn’t own their second-round pick this season, but could have attached next year’s second-rounder, or even one of their additional thirds, in a package with Kotkaniemi.

Still, the scrapped trade for Danault is at the very least indicative of how the Hurricanes view Kotkaniemi. As the upper limit of the salary cap continues to rise and Carolina keeps most of their core on relatively team-friendly contracts, Kotkaniemi’s deal isn’t as much of a drain as it has been in years past. However, given the value he provides, or lack thereof, it’s unsurprising to see a competitive team like the Hurricanes looking to move him for an upgrade.

Any deal involving Kotkaniemi will likely be for another underperforming player, similar to Danault’s situation in Los Angeles. Despite not living up to his draft selection, he’s only 25 years old, and some teams may believe they’ll have a chance to squeeze the last bit of development out of him.

Marc-Andre Fleury Reportedly Generating Interest

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Dec. 24th: Speaking on The Kevin Karius Show on Sports 1440, Frank Seravalli suggests that the Oilers are unsurprisingly one of the teams that have checked on Fleury’s availability. Additionally, on the chances of Fleury eventually playing through the last half of the regular season with Edmonton, Seravalli said it’s “70/30.”

Dec. 23rd: The 2024-25 season may not have been the last with ’Flower’ after all. Yesterday evening, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that a few teams have reached out to netminder Marc-André Fleury to gauge his interest in returning for a 22nd season.

As LeBrun noted in his report, it’s relatively unsurprising that teams have reached out to Fleury. The league averaged a .899 SV% in 2022-23 and a .898 SV% in 2023-24, respectively, before dropping to a .893 SV% last year and maintaining the same level this season. Given that he averaged a .902 SV% from his age 37 to age 40 season with the Minnesota Wild in 123 games, Fleury could theoretically provide stability for a team between the pipes.

Still, as much as a few teams may want Fleury on their roster for the final half of the regular season, there’s no guarantee the 41-year-old netminder will reciprocate that interest. If Fleury does return, it will almost assuredly be for a perceived contender for a chance to win the fourth Stanley Cup ring of his legendary career.

However, this season, three out of four teams from last year’s Conference Finals have a SV% below .890 through the holiday season, giving Fleury a few options to pick from.

The Carolina Hurricanes make some sense, but already have three netminders on the roster, meaning one would have to go, at least. The team has relied on rookie netminder Brandon Bussi for much of the season, with inspiring results, but may want an additional veteran presence. Technically, the team already has one in Frederik Andersen, but the 36-year-old netminder hasn’t played since early December and has a .875 SV% through 14 starts this season.

Meanwhile, the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, who are 27th in the league with a .882 SV%, may be of interest to Fleury if he wants to return. Unfortunately, most of that average hangs on starter Sergei Bobrovsky, who has a .888 SV% through 27 games played this season. There’s little chance of Fleury usurping Bobrovsky in the starter’s crease, but he may provide more stability than Daniil Tarasov as a backup.

Lastly, the Edmonton Oilers have been the most infamous team in the league this year when it comes to goaltending struggles. Edmonton is last in the league with a .875 mark, but has seemingly addressed a portion of this issue by acquiring Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins a few weeks ago. Still, given that Jarry is out for the next few weeks, and the Oilers have received putrid results from Calvin Pickard and Connor Ingram, Fleury could round out the goaltending room.

Additionally, the General Manager of the Oilers, Stan Bowman, has a brief history with Fleury dating back to his time with the Chicago Blackhawks. In one of his last moves with the organization, Bowman acquired Fleury from the Vegas Golden Knights in the summer of 2021 before resigning from his post with the Blackhawks three months later.

Wild Activate Zach Bogosian, Reassign Ben Jones

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The Minnesota Wild are nearing a completely healthy roster. Minnesota announced that they’ve activated veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian from the injured reserve and reassigned forward Ben Jones in a corresponding roster move.

Bogosian, 35, has the opportunity to play in his first contest since the middle of December. The 18-year veteran has been nursing a lower-body ailment since the Wild’s game against the Boston Bruins on December 14th.

Bogosian is in his third year with Minnesota after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning partway through the 2023-24 campaign. He’s been fairly limited in his usage throughout his time with the Wild, scoring eight goals and 32 points in 159 games while averaging 16:40 of ice time.

Becoming an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, there’s a legitimate chance that the 2025-26 campaign will be Bogosian’s last in the NHL. He’s still managing fairly high defensive metrics and would be useful to a few teams as a bottom-pairing right-handed shot. Still, his foot speed ranks below the 50th percentile according to NHL EDGE as ’Father Time’ remains undefeated.

Regardless, Bogosian’s activation means the Wild have effectively ended some murky injury troubles. Only three days ago, Minnesota activated four players off the injured reserve, with Bogosian’s placement being one of the corresponding roster moves. Now, depth blue liner Daemon Hunt is the only one that remains.

Meanwhile, Jones returns to AHL Iowa without playing in any games for the Wild during his current recall. Still, he’s appeared in 20 games for Minnesota already this season, going scoreless with a -6 rating while averaging 8:41 of action.

Toronto Maple Leafs Activate Chris Tanev

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After nearly two months, the Toronto Maple Leafs are returning a solid defenseman to the lineup. The Maple Leafs announced that they’ve activated defenseman Chris Tanev from the long-term injured reserve.

It was the second stint on the sidelines for Tanev this season. On October 21st, the 36-year-old blueliner suffered a concussion, but returned relatively soon after on November 1st. Unfortunately, in that game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Tanev suffered a scary-looking injury after taking a hit from Matvei Michkov. After spending the night in the hospital, Tanev has been on the LTIR ever since.

He’s only skated in eight games this season for the Maple Leafs despite the pair of injuries. He’s been relatively solid in those appearances, registering two assists and a +5 rating while averaging 17:20 of ice time. Still, it’s not enough of a sample size to judge whether or not Toronto will get the same version of Tanev they got last season.

Throughout the 2024-25 campaign, his first with the team after signing a six-year, $27MM contract, Tanev was arguably the Maple Leafs’ top defenseman. He scored three goals and 18 points in 75 games with an impressive +31 rating. His 189 blocked shots were first on the team by a significant margin, and his 92.7% on-ice save percentage at even strength was second among defensemen behind Simon Benoit.

Toronto could use his services now more than ever. Despite having a sixth-ranked penalty kill, the Maple Leafs are 25th in the league in GA/G and 28th in shots against per game. Some of this can be blamed on the numerous goaltending injuries the team has faced this season, but Tanev could at least provide more stability from the back end.

Regardless, this won’t be the only transaction coming for Toronto before their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins today. Now that Tanev is back in the fold, the Maple Leafs have 24 players on the active roster, meaning one player will have to get moved back to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies or placed on the injured reserve. Without any new injuries, the likeliest reassignment candidate is blue liner Henry Thrun, who remains several games away from becoming waiver eligible.

Golden Knights Recall Dylan Coghlan, Place Shea Theodore On IR

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A little over a week after reassigning him, the Vegas Golden Knights have brought one depth defender back to the active roster. According to Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Golden Knights have recalled Dylan Coghlan from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights.

In a follow-up report, SinBin shared that the Golden Knights have placed defenseman Shea Theodore on the team’s injured reserve. He’s expected to miss the next few weeks with an upper-body injury.

Coghlan, 27, is in his second stint with the Golden Knights organization. Vegas signed Coghlan as an undrafted free agent from the WHL’s Tri-City Americans in their inaugural season. He spent two seasons exclusively with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, scoring 26 goals and 64 points in 126 contests.

The following two years were spent entirely with the Golden Knights, scoring six goals and 19 points in 88 games, averaging 13:58 of ice time. Coghlan was included as a sweetener in the salary dump trade that sent Max Pacioretty to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2022.

Despite the new opportunity in Raleigh, Coghlan was hardly utilized at the NHL level, amassing 18 games in two years. Still, he had his best AHL season to date whilst in the Hurricanes organization, registering 16 goals and 41 points in 61 games during the 2023-24 season.

After a one-year stint in the Winnipeg Jets organization, Coghlan made his way back to Vegas last offseason after signing a one-year league minimum deal. He’s only played for AHL Henderson up to this point, managing five goals and 11 points in 23 contests.

Minnesota Wild Seeking To Add Top-Six Winger

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Even after acquiring defenseman Quinn Hughes in a blockbuster trade, the Minnesota Wild don’t seem done adding to their roster. According to a recent update from The Fourth Period, the Wild are currently gauging the market for a top-six scoring winger.

The only name mentioned in the article was Vancouver Canucks winger Kiefer Sherwood, whom Minnesota expressed interest in before adding Hughes. While the two teams are unlikely to align on another deal ahead of the trade deadline, the Canucks are likely familiar with the Wild’s assets and who they’re willing to trade.

Sherwood isn’t a prototypical sniper by any means, but he could offer significant value for a team that appears poised for the playoffs. The 30-year-old winger has scored 35 goals in 114 games while playing in Vancouver, averaging 15:43 of ice time per game. His physicality is the most well-known part of his game, averaging nearly 5.5 hits per game over the last two years.

Minnesota is somewhat limited by its available cap space, but not to a rigid degree, especially if they’re only looking into the rental market. Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch may be the best option available leading up to the deadline, while Seattle Kraken’s Jordan Eberle and Pittsburgh Penguins’ Anthony Mantha represent the secondary and tertiary options. Depending on how willing General Manager Bill Guerin is to empty the cupboards, the Wild still have their 2027 and 2028 first-round picks, as well as a few notable prospects.

Still, especially after moving Marco Rossi in the Hughes trade, it’s somewhat surprising that Minnesota isn’t looking to add a top-six center instead. At the time of writing, the Wild are utilizing Ryan Hartman and Joel Eriksson Ek as their top two options.

Unfortunately, and this may explain their hesitancy in exploring the center market, the demand is outpacing supply. Several competitive teams are looking to add a second-line center, meaning an expected seller’s market could price out Minnesota fairly quickly. Nick Schmaltz of the Utah Mammoth, Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins, and Christian Dvorak of the Philadelphia Flyers are potential options in this field, though there’s no indication any of the trio are being shopped, especially the former two.

Blue Jackets Return Luca Del Bel Belluz From Emergency Loan

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Dec. 23rd: The Blue Jackets announced that they’ve returned Del Bel Belluz from his emergency recall. He went scoreless in two games with a -2 rating, averaging 7:09 of ice time per game.

Dec. 19th: According to a team announcement, the Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled forward Luca Del Bel Belluz on an emergency basis. It’s the third time Del Bel Belluz has been recalled, and his second on an emergency basis.

Fortunately, Del Bel Belluz’s recall isn’t for any injury concerns. Reports indicate that depth forward Brendan Gaunce and his wife are expecting a child relatively soon. The Blue Jackets will use Del Bel Belluz as an extra forward for their upcoming two-game road trip.

Although he has yet to break out in any meaningful way at the NHL level, Del Bel Belluz’s play with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters has made him the next man up for the Blue Jackets. The 44th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft has spent the last three years primarily playing for Cleveland, scoring 41 goals and 97 points in 133 games.

The 22-year-old debuted during the 2023-24 season, but had his longest look in the NHL last year. He performed relatively well in limited action, scoring two goals and eight points in 15 games, averaging 13:45 of ice time. There was certainly room to grow on the defensive side of the puck, though that’s to be expected of a younger forward.

Still, he hasn’t resumed that production this season. Nearly reaching last year’s games played totals, Luca Del Belluz has tallied only one assist in 11 games for the Blue Jackets this season. He’s averaged far less ice time (9:04) and has largely been relegated to a fourth-line role.

Latest On Rasmus Andersson, Blake Coleman

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Less than a week ago, defenseman Rasmus Andersson publicized his commitment to the Calgary Flames, suggesting that he spurned the trade interest in him last offseason by being unwilling to sign a long-term extension. However, in a recent episode of Frankly Hockey with Frank Seravalli, the insider reported that Andersson is willing to join a team that plays in an area of the United States without a state income tax, and that the Dallas Stars have shown the most interest.

Much has been made of the teams that play in no-income-tax states recently. Since the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, at least one team has been from a no-income-tax state, with the Colorado Avalanche being the only recent champion from a state that has one. If one of those teams were to be the one that ultimately acquires Andersson, it would be another instance of the rich getting richer.

If that’s the only qualifier for Andersson, which is unrealistic, the Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Seattle Kraken, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Vegas Golden Knights would join the Stars as potential suitors. However, given the competitive states of the Predators and Kraken, only the Panthers, Lightning, Golden Knights, and Stars would make theoretical sense.

All four teams are among the league’s best, though there are legitimate arguments for not acquiring Andersson. The Panthers, for example, are no strangers to big moves, but already have Seth Jones and Aaron Ekblad on the right side of their defensive core.

Still, the other three have a legitimate need for a top-four defenseman, particularly from the right side. Andersson would easily complement Thomas Harley in Dallas, Ryan McDonagh or Victor Hedman in Tampa Bay, or Noah Hanifin or Shea Theodore in Vegas.

The interesting note from Seravalli’s report is that the Stars are not only interested in Andersson but also have kicked the tires on Blake Coleman. Coleman, who’s signed through next season at a $4.9MM cap hit, would be an immediate upgrade to Dallas’ middle-six. He’s scored 10 goals through 36 games this season and is only a few years removed from helping the Lightning win back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, scoring eight goals and 24 points in 48 games.

Unfortunately, if the Stars were to acquire Coleman and sign Andersson to a longer-term extension after acquiring him, it would make it nearly impossible for the team to retain Jason Robertson, who’s a pending restricted free agent. Dallas could potentially make a move or two to make the money work, but Robertson’s value has risen dramatically this season, scoring 23 goals and 44 points in 37 games.

Ultimately, only time will tell if Andersson and Coleman are eventually moved. Despite a recent string of hot play, the Flames remain five points back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, and don’t appear poised to make a significant postseason run, even if they do qualify.

Montreal Canadiens Reassign Jared Davidson

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After acquiring Phillip Danault from the Los Angeles Kings yesterday evening, the Montreal Canadiens had one extra player on their active roster. To return to compliance, the Canadiens announced that they’ve assigned forward Jared Davidson to the AHL’s Laval Rocket.

Davidson, 23, is in his third professional season and is 15 games away from registering his rookie campaign in the NHL. The native of Edmonton, AB, was drafted by Montreal with the 130th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft.

After concluding his major junior career with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, Davidson joined AHL Laval for the 2023-24 season. He finished 18th on the team in scoring but ninth in goal-scoring with 11 goals and 16 points in 38 games.

He came into his own last season and elevated his status to being a legitimate prospect for Montreal. Davidson scored 24 goals and 45 points in 69 games for the Rocket last year with a +25 rating. He finished second on the team in goal-scoring and third in total output, while also adding two goals and four points in 13 postseason contests as Laval reached the Eastern Conference Final.

His start to the 2025-26 campaign made him an obvious choice to replace Alex Newhook once he landed on the injured reserve in mid-November. He remains tied for sixth on the Rocket in scoring with nine goals and 11 points in 13 games. Unfortunately, that offensive success didn’t translate to his brief time with the Canadiens, as he registered only one assist in 10 contests.

Still, Davidson was extremely limited in his usage, averaging 8:43 of ice time per night. Additionally, he’s been a healthy scratch for seven contests. Regardless, his 18 hits show he’s unafraid to get involved physically, and should remain a prime recall candidate if the Canadiens run into injury trouble again.

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